Gesture Based Computing

Gesture-based computer programs for surgical education training

Introduction

Surgeons develop their skills through years of medical education. A part of this educational training is going through a residency program – a program taken after finishing medical school. This four or five-year program instituted by various teaching hospitals is specifically designed to train doctors who are interested to pursue a career in the surgical field. A surgical residency program is involved in teaching the art and science of surgery – where the treatment modality involved is manipulating the body through an incision with the use of an instrument. Ultimately, trainees will be empowered with the skills to perform surgeries on patients.

The art of doing surgery would require the resident-trainee to develop good hand-eye coordination and fine motor movements. These are learned through years of training, exposure and practice. Conventionally, a surgical resident would initially practice their fine motor skills on practice tissues or simulators and later through various assists, then eventually do it themselves on their patients. It is through repeated surgical performance can a surgeon hone their skill-set. Each surgical residency program hopes to teach their trainees how to perform a surgical procedure flawlessly in the fastest and easiest way possible. This, in turn, can maximize good treatment outcomes for the patients. Surgical residency programs are developing various teaching tools to enhance good fine motor skills to lessen the steep-learning curve of certain surgical procedures.

In ophthalmology surgical training, trainees are required to learn smoother fine movements. Ophthalmologists need to operate on a smaller field – in fact – operating on the eye is a microcscopic field. Manipulating small, fragile tissue organs like the eye involves learning to control the micrscope, learning how to handle small and fine instruments (while looking through the...