Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), which consists in operating through small orifices, reduces the patients’ pain, complications, recovery time and scarring. However, while providing many benefits, the skills required in MIS are especially difficult to learn. Unfortunately, current training methods for such techniques have not progressed at the same pace as surgical advances. Insufficient surgical skills acquisition translates into complications during procedures, which not only harm the patient, but also increases the derived costs of interventions and their follow up. The developed platform merges both technologies, with the benefits of having a physical anatomic model and computer assistance for augmented reality and objective assessment. Further to the functions of a surgical trainer, EndoTrainer provides an integral education, training and evaluation platform.

Peer Reviewed