Adelaïde Blavier

Impact of 2D and 3D vision on performance of novice subjects using da Vinci robotic system.

Abstract Purpose of the study: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of 3D and 2D vision on performance of novice subjects using da Vinci robotic system. Methods: 224 nurses without any surgical experience were divided into two groups and executed a motor task with the robotic system in 2D for one group and with the robotic system in 3D for the other group. Time to perform the task was recorded. Results: Our data showed significant better time performance in 3D view (24.67 ± 11.2) than in 2D view (40.26 ± 17.49, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings emphasized the advantage of 3D vision over 2D view in performing surgical task, encouraging the development of efficient and less expensive 3D systems in order to improve the accuracy of surgical gesture, the resident training and the operating time.

Error detection: A study in anaesthesia

Although error has been shown as the main cause of accidents in complex systems, little attention has been paid to error detection. However, reducing the consequences of error depends largely on error detection. The goal of this paper is to synthesize the existing scientific knowledge on error detection, mostly based on studies conducted in laboratory or self reporting and to further knowledge through the analysis of a corpus of cases collected in a complex system, anaesthesia. By doing this, this paper is better able to describe how this knowledge can be used to improve understanding of error detection modes. An anaesthesia accident reporting system developed and organized at two Belgian University Hospitals was used in order to collect information about the error detection patterns. Results show that detection of errors principally occurred through the standard check (routine monitoring of the environment). Significant relationships were found between the type of error and the error detection mode, and between the type of error and the training level of the anaesthetist who committed the error.

Prospective issues for Error Detection

From the literature on error detection, the authors select several concepts relating error detection mechanisms and prospective memory features. They emphasize the central role of intention in the classification of the errors into slips/lapses/mistakes, in the error handling process and in the usual distinction between action-based and outcome-based detection. Intention is again a core concept in their investigation of prospective memory theory, where they point out the contribution of intention retrievals, intention persistence and output monitoring in the individuals possibilities for detecting their errors. The involvement of the frontal lobes in prospective memory and in error detection is also analysed. From the chronology of a prospective memory task, the authors finally suggest a model for error detection also accounting for neural mechanisms highlighted by studies on error-related brain activity.

Influence of 2D and 3D view on performance and time estimation in minimal invasive surgery

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) images on time performance and time estimation during a surgical motor task. A total of 60 subjects without any surgical experience (nurses) and 20 expert surgeons performed a fine surgical task with a new laparoscopic technology (da Vinci robotic system). The 80 subjects were divided into two groups, one using 3D view option and the other using 2D view option. We measured time performance and asked subjects to verbally estimate their time performance. Our results showed faster performance in 3D than in 2D view for novice subjects while the performance in 2D and 3D was similar in the expert group. We obtained a significant interaction between time performance and time evaluation: in 2D condition, all subjects accurately estimated their time performance while they overestimated it in the 3D condition. Our results emphasise the role of 3D in improving performance and the contradictory feeling about time evaluation in 2D and 3D. This finding is discussed in regard with the retrospective paradigm and suggests that 2D and 3D images are differently processed and memorised.

The effect of 2D and 3D visual modes on surgical task performance: role of expertise and adaptation processes

The aim of this paper is to analyze how novices and experts are able to safely adapt and transfer their skills to new technology in medical domain. In order to answer this question, we compared the performance of 12 novices (medical students) with the performance of 12 laparoscopic surgeons (using a 2D view) and 4 robotic surgeons, using a new robotic system that allows 2D and 3D view. Our results showed a trivial effect of expertise (surgeons generally performed better than novices). Moreover, they revealed that experts have adaptive transfer capacities and are able to transfer their skills independently of the human–machine system. However, even if we observe transfer of skills, we showed that expert’s performance may be disturbed by changes in their usual environment. In a safety perspective but also for novice and expert training, this study emphasizes the necessity to take into account the impact of these environmental changes and the expert’s adaptive capacities but also the limits of expert’s adaptive capacities.

The Desire of Parenthood: Intuitive Co-parental Behaviors and Quality of Couple Relationship among Italian and Belgian Same-Sex and Opposite-Sex Couples

Studies that focused on family issues have allowed a great understanding of the aspects related to its subsystems, such as parenting desire and its expectations, couples’ satisfaction and quality of child’s outcomes. All these aspects are greatly interconnected and contribute to the creation of specific family dynamics, such as the quality of family interactions. The present study focuses on intuitive co-parental behaviors and the quality of couple relationship observed during the decision process (intention and desire) to be (or become) parents. Our first goal was to explore these aspects in a cross-national sample made of Italian and Belgian heterosexual, lesbian and gay couples. We then aimed to evaluate if the degree of internalized homophobia affects co-parental alliance. The quality of couple relationship and co-parental behaviors have been evaluated through the recruitment of a group of 115 stable heterosexual, gay and lesbian couples (230 individuals, 20–50 years of age) without children, who wanted to become parents. We used the Prenatal Lausanne Trilogue Play to evaluate the Co-parental Alliance; the couple’s satisfaction was assessed with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Internalized Homophobia with the MISS-LG. In line with the existent literature, the analysis did not find any difference between lesbian, gay and heterosexual couples in terms of co-parental alliance. High levels of couple adjustment lead to better parental performances among both Italian and Belgian couples. The results suggest also that sexual stigma differs from one country to another, and it has an impact on the capability of managing co-parenting. Clinical implications should be verified in further longitudinal studies in order to observe the impact on the inter-generational transmission of psychopathology.