Minimally Trained Analysts Can Perform Fast, Objective Assessment of Orthopedic Technical Skill from Fluoroscopic...

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic surgery
• Medical imaging analysis
• Surgical skill assessment

Background:

• Traditional orthopedic skill assessment relies on subjective surgeon feedback, prone to bias.
• Intraoperative fluoroscopic images offer objective, repeatable, and precise skill assessment potential.
• Practical limitations hinder the use of intraoperative images for real-time skill evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a new system for rapid, objective skill assessment using intraoperative fluoroscopy.
• To compare the efficiency and accuracy of a custom analysis software against a commercial alternative.

Main Methods:

• Four expert and four novice analysts independently measured an objective surgical skill metric.
• Analysis was performed using both a custom-designed software and a commercial alternative.
• Time and accuracy of measurements were recorded for each software.

Main Results:

• Analysts using the custom software measured the objective metric three times faster than with the commercial alternative.
• Accuracy of skill metric measurement was comparable between the custom software and the commercial alternative.
• Minimally trained analysts achieved results comparable to expert analysts using commercial software.

Conclusions:

• A well-designed fluoroscopy analysis system can facilitate inexpensive, reliable, and objective surgical skill assessment.
• Custom software significantly improves the speed of objective skill metric analysis.
• This approach enhances the potential for unbiased, efficient surgical training and evaluation.