Preliminary Validation of an Editable Virtual Reality Simulator for Minimally Invasive Surgical Training

Abstract

MIS-SIM is a virtual reality (VR) environment designed and developed for the creation of virtual scenarios that can be used to train and acquire basic and advance laparoscopic skills. The environment is composed by a task editor where a content creator design and develop tasks for the simulator to play. Once they are completed, objective metrics are automatically stored and examined in MIS-SIM’s server so they can be displayed by an online platform. The project was validated in Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary where an experienced professor designed tasks for 16 young surgeons (PGY 3-4-5) from different surgical fields (gynaecology, general-, plastic-, vascular-, thoracic-, neurosurgery, etc.) with different experiences in laparoscopy. Each participant fulfilled each task as if they were completing them on physical simulator.