The investigation of laparoscopic instrument movement control and learning effect

A Case Report of Occult Breast Cancer Detected by Diagnostic Laparoscopy for Suspected Ovarian Cancer

Diagnostic laparoscopy is useful in the management of gynecological cancers; however, it can occasionally result in the detection of other malignancies. Occult breast cancer (OBC) is metastatic breast cancer without a recognized primary breast lesion. We report a rare case of OBC that was detected laparoscopically. A 64-year-old female presented to our hospital with back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a 50 mm multicystic tumor with an internal nodule in the right ovary. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography showed abnormal accumulation in multiple lymph nodes, moderate accumulation in the ovarian tumor nodule, and no accumulation in the breasts. Ovarian cancer was suspected, and a diagnostic laparoscopy was performed. Laparoscopically, a cystic tumor in the right ovary and 10 mm nodule in the right round ligament were observed and partially resected. Immunohistopathologically, the nodules of the round ligament exhibited features consistent with those of breast cancer, but the ovarian tumor was a seromucinous borderline tumor. MRI revealed no breast lesions. Therefore, the malignancy was diagnosed as an OBC.

Visuospatial abilities and fine motor experiences influence acquisition and maintenance of fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (FLS) task performance

BACKGROUND

Minimally invasive surgery poses a unique learning curve due to the requirement for non-intuitive psychomotor skills. The fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (FLS) program trains and certifies residents in such skills. However, innate predictors of FLS performance and maintenance remain to be described. This single-centre observational study aimed to assess for candidate factors influencing the acquisition and maintenance of FLS performance amongst a surgically naïve cohort.

METHODS

Laparoscopically naïve medical students were recruited from pre-clinical university grades. Participants completed five visuospatial/psychomotor tests and a questionnaire surveying non-surgical experiences and personality traits. Individuals completed baseline assessments of FLS standard tasks followed by an intensive training course over week one and two on inanimate box trainers. A post-training assessment was performed in week three to evaluate acquisition. Participants were withdrawn from exposure and retested at four 1-month intervals to assess maintenance requirements.

RESULTS

Forty-nine participants enrolled with 35 (71.4%) and 33 (67.3%) completing acquisition and maintenance phases, respectively. Mean age of participants was 19.3 (± 1.2) years with 68.6% female predominance. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in all five tasks during the acquisition (p < 0.05) period and maintenance of skills with task exposure at 1-month intervals. Significant predictors of skill acquisition included: card rotations for intracorporeal knot (p = 0.027) and combined tasks (p = 0.028) and cube comparisons for extracorporeal knot (p = 0.040). During skill maintenance: Card rotations predicted performance across all tasks (p < 0.05), Cube comparisons for tasks 1/2/4/5 (p < 0.05), PicSOR for peg transfer (p = 0.017) and grooved pegboard for peg transfer (p = 0.023) and ligating-loop (p = 0.038) tasks. Musical instrument experience demonstrated associations with skill acquisition in peg transfer (p = 0.042) and intracorporeal knot (p = 0.034) while video gaming predicted performance in these tasks (p < 0.05) during the maintenance phase. A sporting background or competitive personality did not influence skill performance.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple visuospatial abilities and non-surgical experiences positively influenced FLS performance during skill acquisition and/or maintenance. Further consideration to these individual factors may facilitate selection of more technically adaptable surgical residents.

Human-centric predictive model of task difficulty for human-in-the-loop control tasks

Quantitatively measuring the difficulty of a manipulation task in human-in-the-loop control systems is ill-defined. Currently, systems are typically evaluated through task-specific performance measures and post-experiment user surveys; however, these methods do not capture the real-time experience of human users. In this study, we propose to analyze and predict the difficulty of a bivariate pointing task, with a haptic device interface, using human-centric measurement data in terms of cognition, physical effort, and motion kinematics. Noninvasive sensors were used to record the multimodal response of human user for 14 subjects performing the task. A data-driven approach for predicting task difficulty was implemented based on several task-independent metrics. We compare four possible models for predicting task difficulty to evaluated the roles of the various types of metrics, including: (I) a movement time model, (II) a fusion model using both physiological and kinematic metrics, (III) a model only with kinematic metrics, and (IV) a model only with physiological metrics. The results show significant correlation between task difficulty and the user sensorimotor response. The fusion model, integrating user physiology and motion kinematics, provided the best estimate of task difficulty (R2 = 0.927), followed by a model using only kinematic metrics (R2 = 0.921). Both models were better predictors of task difficulty than the movement time model (R2 = 0.847), derived from Fitt's law, a well studied difficulty model for human psychomotor control.

Impact of Training on Three-Dimensional versus Two-Dimensional Laparoscopic Systems on Acquisition of Laparoscopic Skills in Novices: A Prospective Comparative Pilot Study

In this prospective educational study, 10 medical students (novices) were randomized to practice two basic laparoscopic tasks from the MISTELS program, namely, Pegboard Transfer (PT) and Intracorporeal Knot Tying (IKT) tasks, using either a 2D or a 3D laparoscopic platform. There was no significant difference between both groups in the baseline assessments (PT task: 130.8 ± 18.7 versus 151.5 ± 33.4; p = 0.35) (IKT task: 123.9 ± 41.0 versus 122.9 ± 44.9; p = 0.986). Following two training sessions, there was a significant increase in the scores of PT task for the 2D (130.8 ± 18.7 versus 222.6 ± 7.0; p = 0.0004) and the 3D groups (151.5 ± 33.4 versus 211.7 ± 16.2; p = 0.0001). Similarly, there was a significant increase in the scores of IKT task for the 2D (123.9 ± 41.0 versus 373.3 ± 47.2; p = 0.003) and the 3D groups (122.9 ± 44.9 versus 338.8 ± 28.6; p = 0.0005). However, there was no significant difference in the final assessment scores between 2D and 3D groups for both tasks (p > 0.05). Therefore, 3D laparoscopic systems do not provide an advantage over 2D systems for training novices in basic laparoscopic skills.

Current Recommendations for Minimally Invasive Surgical Staging in Ovarian Cancer

OPINION STATEMENT

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) currently is performed to stage and treat ovarian cancer at different stages of disease; however, the higher level of evidence from existing studies is IIB. Despite the absence of randomized controlled trials, MIS represents a safe and adequate procedure for treating and staging early ovarian cancer, and its use has increased significantly in clinical practice. Major concerns are related to minimizing tumor disruption or dissemination, removing the adnexal mass intact, adequate retroperitoneal staging, and fertility-sparing surgery for young patients. The main goal for patients with advanced ovarian cancer is to determine the best therapeutic strategy by evaluating the risks and benefits of primary debulking surgery versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery. The use of staging laparoscopy in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer appears to be the most researched and accepted approach. Regarding other types and stages of ovarian cancer, although the evidence is very promising, clinical trials performed by expert gynecologic oncology surgeons in referral centers are still needed to prove the efficacy of such an approach in these patients. In particular, MIS has provided an opportunity to remove localized recurrences, with both retroperitoneal and intraperitoneal diffusion.