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Performance using a visuo-haptic surgical simulator is affected by age
Mara Coduri1,2, Chiara Saporetti3, Michele Minuto4
1Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. mara.coduri@edu.unige.it.
Advances in Simulation (London, England)
|June 18, 2026
Summary
Aging significantly impacts surgical skills, with younger surgeons outperforming older ones in simulator tasks. Visuo-haptic simulation can help assess and maintain surgical abilities in older professionals.
Area of Science:
- Surgical Education
- Gerontology
- Human Factors Engineering
Background:
- Aging can diminish manual dexterity crucial for surgery.
- Objective assessment of age-related surgical skill decline is lacking.
- Surgical simulation offers a standardized training and evaluation method.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effect of age on basic surgical task performance.
- To assess the utility of visuo-haptic simulation in studying age-related surgical skill changes.
Main Methods:
- 39 participants (20 young, 19 older adults) performed three surgical tasks on a visuo-haptic simulator.
- Tasks included: incision, needle threading, and suturing.
- Performance metrics (errors, trajectory, time) were analyzed between age groups and across practice repetitions.
Main Results:
- Younger participants demonstrated superior performance across all tasks compared to older adults.
- Older surgeons showed less improvement with practice than younger surgeons.
- Specific deficits observed in older adults included reduced tissue cutting, increased dexterity errors, and slower suturing.
Conclusions:
- Age significantly impairs performance in fundamental surgical skills.
- Visuo-haptic simulation effectively evaluates age-related surgical skill differences.
- Periodic simulation-based training may help older surgeons maintain proficiency and counteract skill degradation.
