Objective assessment of surgeon’s skill using needle grasping virtual reality module

Conventional practice for surgical skill assessment relies heavily on expert surgeons using direct observation of outcomes. This is highly subjective and prone to inter and intra-rater’s variability. The aim of this study is to develop a computer based assessment module and to identify the measurable parameters that can be used to assess surgical skill objectively. The virtual-reality computer modules namely ‘Needle Grasping’ were developed using Visual C++, PHANTOM Omni haptic device and sensors emulated a fundamental step in suturing and evaluated the needle grasping angle and grasping position. To validate the modules, experiments was conducted with 4 surgeons and 11 non-surgeons to identify significant parameters that could differentiate between expert and novice subjects. Experimental results showed that surgeons outperformed non-surgeons significantly in needle grasping position, where the comparison values were 2.64 ± 3.48 and 3.99 ± 3.94, respectively.