Inexpensive home-made laparoscopic trainer and camera.

Laparoscopic surgery is a well-established and important component of modern surgical practice across a range of surgical specialties. However, training in this modality is hampered by the nature of the equipment and its cost, and the difficulty of much of the surgery undertaken. Hence it can take some time for advanced and especially basic trainees to attain competency in laparoscopic techniques, and it remains difficult to practise or refine techniques. A solution to one half of this problem has been investigated by designing an inexpensive home-made laparoscopic camera and trainer system that can be assembled and used by one or more trainees either in a skills lab or at home. The components are readily available and the present system comprises a CMOS spy camera mounted on a rigid plastic tube that is used within a translucent plastic training box, obviating the need for an inbuilt light source. The costs were successfully constrained to under NZ$200.