Robotics Could Assist Surgeons with One More Thing: Real-Time Training

Teaching surgical residents has been a practice that is relatively unchanged over the course of decades and even, perhaps, centuries. Instruction by observation and eventual supervised hands-on practice forms the basis of the transfer of knowledge and skill between an experienced surgeon and a beginner. These practices have produced competent surgeons who, ideally, perfect their techniques and approaches over the years. Training is ultimately limited by the perceptual limits of what a resident can observe and how a surgeon can critique the hands-on efforts of residents. The operating room setting also places some limits on what can be fully taken in by residents. Pressure, speed, and the involvement of a full surgical team create challenges and limitations for pure observation and learning. In addition, other factors have impacted the teaching and learning of surgical skills. In an article from the Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons, "Teaching and Training Surgery to the Next Generation of Surgeons," Dr. Michael Kavic outlines a reduction in resident hours, lack of mentor availability particularly from private practitioners, and the breadth and complexity of surgical procedures and their nuances. Learning based on observation and sight is limited to understanding courser motor skills. Nuanced, fine skills are hard to teach or learn other than from personal trial. Additionally, as pointed out in an article in MedEd Publish, an official AMEE journal...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Assembly and Automation Source Type: news