Juan Sanguinetti, MD1, Edgar Y Figueredo, MD2. 1Maldonado Medical Asisstance, Cantegril Sanatorium, 2University of Washington
Purpose: To present a mobile App for tablets and mobile phones (Smart Phones) for training and teaching laparoscopic surgery in low-cost pelvitrainers.
For our simulator prototype we used 2 models, one of them a standard triangular prismatic prototype and a new model created by the research team which has only 2 boards (a base and a front or work board (Figures 1 and 2)); it was manufactured with MDF lacquered boards, in order to obtain a simulator by using less materials, making the simulator more economic, foldable and reproducible. Simulators are approximately 3 kg, the angle between the front board and the base can vary from 90 to 70 degrees, the distance between ports and trocars varies from 14 to 24 cm and are adapted for simulating the distance of trocars in adult and pediatric surgery.
We intended to design a trainer accessible to the resident and the surgeon not only in the hospital or facility but also at home in order to extend training time. We should further improve the design and add elements in order to make different and varied exercises. The app accompanying this trainer is not only novel in our field but also there is no app on the website with the dynamics or features of the one developed by our work team, which could make it a fundamental tool created with a very low budget. These and other tools will surely change the training of residents in our environment, and the team is interested in these intervening in the training of colleagues from the region. We managed to make the simulators and the app in less than a year with an almost solo work, with no external financial support from private or public entities, only with the educational interest from the designer and contributors.
From the above it is concluded that with the necessity of ex-vivo training, in order to reduce complications inherent to the learning curve of each surgeon, it is necessary to develop low-cost simulators for laparoscopic surgery in our environment. It was possible to develop a mobile app for laparoscopic surgery training. The next objective is to demonstrate, by a prospective, longitudinal and comparative study, the method's usefulness and applicability, in order to standardize its use both in Uruguay and Argentina.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 95879
Program Number: P387
Presentation Session: Poster Session (Non CME)
Presentation Type: Poster