Incisions in virtual reality simulators: assessing user performance

Abstract

Purpose: The use of simulators based on virtual reality has become more common in different areas. In the field of health sciences, their use ranges from the training of future professionals to planning and performing surgical procedures in real cases. Different procedures can be trained through these programs, one of them being the surgical incision. It was identified that although there are different applications capable of simulating incisions, there was no specific method to assess the performance of the user who was involved in this task, something that would be fundamental for the learning process. Methods: The structure and the variables used in the proposed assessment system for surgical incisions performed in simulators were obtained from the literature of the area and the decision models support vector machine and classical logic were chosen after performing tests with a data set of simulated incision examples. Results: The assessment system is presented as the main result and a simulation of a specific type of incision (submental) was developed to validate it. Satisfactory results were obtained in the tests, with 74 to 97% of accuracy, depending on the test configuration. Conclusion: The tests indicate that the system in its current format is a good candidate for testing and eventual use with human users in a training environment.