Ankeet Shah

Telementoring and Telesurgery for Minimally Invasive Procedures

Purpose: Tremendous interest and need lie at the intersection of telemedicine and minimally invasive surgery. Robotics provides an ideal environment for surgical telementoring and telesurgery given its endoscopic optics and mechanized instrument movement. We review the present status, current challenges and future promise of telemedicine in endoscopic and minimally invasive surgery with a focus on urological applications. Materials and Methods: Two paired investigators screened PubMed®, Scopus® and Web of Science® databases for all full text English language articles published between 1995 and 2016 using the key words “telemedicine,” “minimally invasive surgical procedure,” “robotic surgical procedure,” “education” and “distance.” We categorized and included studies of level of interaction between proctors and trainees. Research design, special equipment, telecommunication network bandwidth and research outcomes of each study were ascertained and analyzed. Results: Of 65 identified reports 38 peer‐reviewed studies qualified for inclusion. Series were categorized into 4 advancing levels, ie verbal guidance, guidance with telestration, guidance with tele‐assist and telesurgery. More advanced levels of surgical telementoring provide more effective and experiential teaching but are associated with increased telecommunication network bandwidth requirements and expenses. Concerns regarding patient safety and legal, financial, economic and ethical issues remain to be reconciled. Conclusions: Telementoring and telesurgery in minimally invasive surgery are becoming more practical and cost effective in facilitating teaching of advanced surgical skills worldwide and delivery of surgical care to underserved areas, yet many challenges remain. Maturity of these modalities depends on financial incentives, favorable legislation and collaboration with cybersecurity experts to ensure safety and cost‐effectiveness.

Use of Automated Performance Metrics to Measure Surgeon Performance during Robotic Vesicourethral Anastomosis and Methodical Development of a Training Tutorial

Purpose: We sought to develop and validate automated performance metrics to measure surgeon performance of vesicourethral anastomosis during robotic assisted radical prostatectomy. Furthermore, we sought to methodically develop a standardized training tutorial for robotic vesicourethral anastomosis. Materials and Methods: We captured automated performance metrics for motion tracking and system events data, and synchronized surgical video during robotic assisted radical prostatectomy. Nonautomated performance metrics were manually annotated by video review. Automated and nonautomated performance metrics were compared between experts with 100 or more console cases and novices with fewer than 100 cases. Needle driving gestures were classified and compared. We then applied task deconstruction, cognitive task analysis and Delphi methodology to develop a standardized robotic vesicourethral anastomosis tutorial. Results: We analyzed 70 vesicourethral anastomoses with a total of 1,745 stitches. For automated performance metrics experts outperformed novices in completion time (p <0.01), EndoWrist® articulation (p <0.03), instrument movement efficiency (p <0.02) and camera manipulation (p <0.01). For nonautomated performance metrics experts had more optimal needle to needle driver positioning, fewer needle driving attempts, a more optimal needle entry angle and less tissue trauma (each p <0.01). We identified 14 common robotic needle driving gestures. Random gestures were associated with lower efficiency (p <0.01), more attempts (p <0.04) and more trauma (p <0.01). The finalized tutorial contained 66 statements and figures. Consensus among 8 expert surgeons was achieved after 2 rounds, including among 58 (88%) after round 1 and 8 (12%) after round 2. Conclusions: Automated performance metrics can distinguish surgeon expertise during vesicourethral anastomosis. The expert vesicourethral anastomosis technique was associated with more efficient movement and less tissue trauma. Standardizing robotic vesicourethral anastomosis and using a methodically developed tutorial may help improve robotic surgical training.