Surgical rehearsal platform: potential uses in microsurgery.

Surgical training has remained remarkably similar in many respects since the early days of halstedian training. Neurosurgery is a demanding field that requires extensive cognitive, perceptive, and technical training. Surgical simulation is a promising approach to facilitate acquiring proficiency in neurosurgical procedures. Simulation can permit mentoring trainees in a "safe" environment. By incorporating images that depict specific abnormalities in actual patients, simulation can provide realistic rehearsal for any given case for both novice and experienced surgeons in much the same way that data acquired from drones can be used to allow pilots to rehearse mission-critical maneuvers in a simulator before taking flight. Most neurosurgical simulators to date have focused on endovascular procedures, spinal procedures, temporal bone dissection, and stereotactic procedures. The use of simulator technology for microsurgery is in its infancy. This article describes a novel simulator technology developed by Surgical Theater LLC (http://www.surgicaltheater.net/home.html) called the Selman Surgical Rehearsal Platform. The platform shows promise for use in intracranial microvascular procedures, which require experience that is becoming increasingly limited for trainees who have to become proficient in more procedures in much less time than ever before.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes