Trainee surgeons improve skills with new operation simulator
Surgical operations often present a life or death situation. News of a computerised simulator, currently being tested at hospitals in France, is therefore obviously very welcome. The technology could help trainee orthopaedic surgeons to thoroughly test their operating abilities before picking up a scalpel. Developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts through a project called Technology Enhanced Learning for Orthopaedic Surgery (TELEOS), the device could enable, for example, trainees to simulate interventions such as placing a pin in a patient's pelvis using a computer mouse. Normally, trainees acquire their experience from working in real operating theatres, under the supervision of experienced surgeons. If a trainee gets into difficulties, the senior surgeon steps in immediately. There is therefore little opportunity for the students to explore what they should have done to rectify the situation. The TELEOS developers carried out trials with trainee surgeons, and found that those who had practised using the simulator were less likely to need a senior surgeon to intervene when working in the real life situations in the operating theatre. Following the testing period, the developers are planning to introduce the simulator into hospitals in Grenoble, France, by the end of 2007. The project partners hope that this will help spread the word about the advantages of the simulator. 'The more people able to see the benefit of TELEOS, the better. At the moment we are testing the system to prove its added educational value. We are confident that when it is introduced in hospitals in Grenoble at the end of this year, its benefits will be recognised by the surgeons and trainee surgeons that will use it,' says Lucile Vadcard, a member of the project team. The team says it will continue to keep its ears to the ground for information on technological advances in order to stay ahead. Helping the TELEO project to do so is Kaleidoscope, a European Network of Excellence for technology-enhanced learning, of which the project partners are members. 'We work as a tight-knit team, but having access to the experience and knowledge of education researchers from across Europe, through the Kaleidoscope network, has been an invaluable bonus to all of us. We have been able to find out about other teams doing similar research activities within other countries,' said Ms Vadcard.
Countries
France