A prospective study of the effect of video games on robotic surgery skills using the high-fidelity virtual reality RobotiX simulator

• Main Authors: Hvolbek AP, Nilsson PM, Sanguedolce F, Lund L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2019-08-01
• Series: Advances in Medical Education and Practice
• Subjects: robot-assisted surgery; procedure specific; virtual reality; computer simulation; videogame
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/a-prospective-study-of-the-effect-of-video-games-on-robotic-surgery-sk-peer-reviewed-article-AMEP

Andreas Pierre Hvolbek,1 Philip Mørkeberg Nilsson,2 Francesco Sanguedolce,3 Lars Lund1,3,41Department of Urology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; 2Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen and the Capital Region of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark; 3Department of Urology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark; 4Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DenmarkBackground: Robot-assisted surgery is a growing field. Prior video game experience might give advantage to novice robotic surgeons.Aim: Assessing if prior video gaming experience gives advantage in performing high-fidelity virtual reality (VR)-simulated robotic surgery.Methods: In this observational study, 30 medical students and 2 interns (17 females; 15 males) with median age 25 years (range, 24–26 years) were recruited and subsequently divided into groups according to prior gaming experience; gamers (≥6 video game hours/week) vs nongamers (<6 video game hours/week). Participants performed VR-simulated urethrovesical anastomosis on RobotiX Mentor, which measured performance parameters. Participants answered a questionnaire for demographics and gaming experience. Groups were compared using Mann–Whitney U and multiple regression.Results: Gamers significantly outperformed nongamers in 3 of 24 performance metrics (p<0.05), and there was a trend toward better results for 7 of the 21 remaining metrics. Males outperformed females in 5 of 24 metrics (p<0.05) but were overrepresented among gamers.Conclusion: Prior video game experience >6 hrs/week might give advantage in simulated robotic surgery. We recommend future studies testing this hypothesis to develop simulator programs for certification of robotic surgeons.Keywords: robot-assisted surgery, procedure specific, virtual reality, computer simulation, video game