Development and Validation of a Virtual Teaching Method for Minimally Invasive Surgery Skills

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Surgery
• Interventions: Other: Virtual teaching

• Registration Number: NCT06355596
• Lead Sponsor: Imperial College London

Brief Summary

The goal of this observational study is to develop and evaluate a virtual teaching method for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) skills among novice learners, using widely available technology and incorporating objective assessments of proficiency. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Can MIS skills be effectively taught to novice learners through a virtual platform using widely available technology? How do virtual and face-to-face (F2F) teaching methods compare in terms of effectiveness, measured by performance in MIS tasks and cognitive workload parameters?

Participants in this study will:

Be randomly allocated to either F2F or virtual teaching groups. Undergo training and evaluation using validated laparoscopic assessments, namely the McGill Inanimate System for Training and Evaluation of Laparoscopic Skills (MISTELS) peg transfer task and the European Academy laparoscopic 'Suturing Training and Testing' (SUTT) assessment.

Have their performance and cognitive workload parameters (SURG-TLX score, heart rate, and pupil metrics) evaluated during the tasks.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2022-03-11
• Primary Completion: 2022-04-08
• Study Completion: 2022-04-08
• Study First Submitted: 2024-03-19
• Status Verified: 2024-04
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-04-04
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-04-04
• Study First Posted: 2024-04-09
• Last Update Posted: 2024-04-09

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 20

Inclusion Criteria

• Adult (age > 18)
• Medical student, Foundation Year or Core Trainee level or equivalent

Exclusion Criteria

• Specialty Registrar level
• Consultant level

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Virtual teaching	Virtual teaching	Virtual teaching of laparoscopic skills
Face-to-face teaching	Virtual teaching	Face-to-face teaching of laparoscopic skills

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
European Academy laparoscopic 'Suturing Training and Testing' (SUTT) assessment score	Two days	Time to completion of task (minutes)
McGill Inanimate System for Training and Evaluation of Laparoscopic Skills (MISTELS) peg transfer task score	Two days	Time to completion of task (minutes)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Heart rate	Two days	Beats per minute
SURG-TLX score	Two days	Workload score ranging from 0 to 100
Pupil metrics	Two days	Mean pupil size (mm) and blinks per minute

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

St Mary's Hospital; 🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom