Content validation of a novel robotic surgical simulator

Abstract

Study Type – Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4 OBJECTIVE • To assess the content validity of an early prototype robotic simulator. Minimally invasive surgery poses challenges for training future surgeons. The Robotic Surgical Simulator (RoSS) is a novel virtual reality simulator for the da Vinci Surgical System. PATIENTS AND METHODS • Participants attending the 2010 International Robotic Urology Symposium were invited to experience RoSS. Afterwards, participants completed a survey regarding the appropriateness of the simulator as a teaching tool. RESULTS • Forty‐two subjects including surgeons experienced with robotics (n= 31) and novices (n= 11) participated in this study. • Eighty per cent of the entire cohort had an average of 4 years of experience with robot‐assisted surgery. • Eleven (26%) novices lacked independent robot‐assisted experience. The expert group comprised 17 (41%) surgeons averaging 881 (160–2200) robot‐assisted cases. Experts rated the ‘clutch control’ virtual simulation task as a good (71%) or excellent (29%) teaching tool. • Seventy‐eight per cent rated the ‘ball place’ task as good or excellent but 22% rated it as poor. • Twenty‐seven per cent rated the ‘needle removal’ task as an excellent teaching tool, 60% rated it good and 13% rated it poor. • Ninety‐one per cent rated the ‘fourth arm tissue removal’ task as good or excellent. • Ninety‐four per cent responded that RoSS would be useful for training purposes. • Eighty‐eight per cent felt that RoSS would be an appropriate training and testing format before operating room experience for residents. • Seventy‐nine per cent indicated that RoSS could be used for privileging or certifying in robotic surgery. CONCLUSION • Results based on expert evaluation of RoSS as a teaching modality illustrate that RoSS has appropriate content validity.

Robotic Surgery Training with Commercially Available Simulation Systems in 2011: A Current Review and Practice Pattern Survey from the Society of Urologic Robotic Surgeons

“…7,8 All published validation studies have come from a single institution, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Buffalo, NY). It has both validated basic orientation modules (camera and arm movement, clutch, and fourth arm manipulation) as well as basic skill modules (suturing and tying, vessel clipping, and suture cutting).…”

Validation of the da Vinci Surgical Skill Simulator across three surgical disciplines

“…The face and content validity of the Robotic Surgical Simulator (RoSS) (Simulated Surgical Systems; Williamsville, NY) have been demonstrated. 7,8 The original software developed by Mimic Technologies for the second simulator, namely the da Vinci Trainer (dV-Trainer) (Mimic Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA), has been recently adapted as a "back-pack" to be used with the Si console of the da Vinci robot, thus creating a third simulator, namely the da Vinci Surgical Skills Simulator (dVSSS) (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA). Although the construct validity of the dV-Trainer has been previously demonstrated, previous studies only included novices and experts, without a group of participants with intermediate level of robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgical expertise.…”

Validation of a Novel Virtual Reality Simulator for Robotic Surgery

“…There is one laparoscopic simulator which can be converted into a robotic simulator and can train basic robotic skills [26]; however, van der Meijden et al were not able to establish construct validity for this simulator and improvement is necessary before using it in robotic training programs [27]. Recently, face and content validity for another VR simulator (robotic surgical simulator (ROSS)) for robotic surgery was established [28,29]. With the introduction of VR simulators for robotic surgery, a new tool for robotic training and credentialing has become available.…”