Virtual operating room useful tool for training in Minimal Invasive Surgery

Minimally invasive surgery is rapidly becoming the standard of treatment for many surgical pathologies. However, the skills required to perform MIS are significantly different to that of open surgery. The surgeon has to cope with restricted movement and visual field, fulcrum effect, hand-eye coordination, and ever-changing instruments and equipment. Training surgeons to adapt to these challenges requires equally advanced tools that replicate them. Nowadays available VR headsets have made it accessible and affordable to create immersive environments that replicate true to life with distractions and a sense of being. A research team conducted a study to analyze the experience of VORSS by surgeons and surgical trainees and the potential added benefit to the existing procedural VR simulation.

A total of 28 participants (15 residents -novices and 13 surgeons-experts) from GSL Medical College, Rajahmundry, India performed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy on the VORSS comprising of a head-mounted 360-degree realistic OR surrounding on a VR laparoscopic simulator. Among experts four had completed > 200 cases, three completed 101–200 cases, three completed 50–100 cases, and three had performed < 50 clinical procedures. Of the novices, 14 had performed fewer than 50 clinical procedures previously and one performed none. They used the VORSS which replicates a full setup of instruments and surgical team-members along with some distractions occurring during surgical procedures. After completion of procedures, researchers analyzed the response via Presence Questionnaire (PQ), Questionnaire for Intuitive Use (QUESI), NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), and a heuristics questionnaire and recorded the data.

Researchers reported that VORSS was found to be more intuitive and easy to use by experts and novice. Upon analysis, they found the outcome of the usability test, applying QUESI and NASA-TLX, reflected the usability of the VORSS at the cognitive level and indicated a good sense of immersion along with satisfaction when performing the procedure within VORSS.

The authors concluded, "The VORSS for procedural training has the potential to become a useful tool to provide immersive training in MIS surgery. Further optimizing of the VORSS improving realism and introduction of distractors in the VOR should result in an improvement in the effectiveness of the procedural training by shortening the learning curve and speeding up the adaption of trainees to the real OR setting".

For further information:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12262-020-02131-z#Abs1