McCrory, Bernadette

Background: Laparoendoscopic single site surgery (LESS) is feasible for more complex procedure types, but the technical challenges and learning curve posed by LESS makes traditional multi-incision laparoscopy still the preferred technique. The aims of this study were to understand the restricted mobility and positional requirements of these more complex procedures and to generate innovative instrument designs to overcome these restrictions. Methods: A two-phase study was conducted where three lightly-embalmed (fresh tissue) cadavers were utilized to estimate in vivo mobility restriction and positional requirements. These data were combined to quantifying instrument force and positional requirements to develop a novel design for a LESS-specific grasper. Results: The LESS-specific has an ergonomic curved axial handle and locking mechanism that enables surgeons to relax their grip without the grasper releasing. Conclusion: Further design adaptations are needed to optimize the size, angles, and curvature of the tool, as well as to add two points of articulation for rapid intracorporeal adjustment.

AbstractObjectivesA cuffed bag valve mask (BVM) is the most common device used by emergency medical responders to ventilate patients. The BVM can be difficult for users to seal around the patient’s mouth and nose. An intraoral mask (IOM) with snorkel-like design may facilitate quicker and better ventilation particularly under austere conditions.MethodsBoth a BVM and IOM were utilized by 27 trained emergency medical technicians and paramedics to ventilate a lightly embalmed cadaver. Ventilation efficacy, workload, and usability were assessed for both devices across four study conditions.ResultsThe IOM was superior to the BVM in delivered tidal volume ratio (measure of leak, p < 0.03) and minute ventilation (p < 0.0001). Workload, ergonomic and usability assessments indicated that the IOM facilitated gripping through the reduced hand interface size (p < 0.01), decreased user effort (p < 0.001), and reduced upper limb workload (p = 0.0088).ConclusionsIn the assessed model, the IOM represented a better choice for airway management than the standard cuffed BVM. An emergency medical device that is intuitive, efficacious and less demanding has the potential to reduce responder stress and improve resuscitation efforts, especially during austere rescue and patient transport.

Laparoendoscopic single site surgery (LESS) can provide potential patient benefits beyond conventional laparoscopy (CL). However, LESS further exacerbates current ergonomic disadvantages of CL. LESS practices to compensate for the constraints include intracorporeal crossing of instruments (UL) for improved manipulation of instrumentation and extracorporeal crossing of hands (PL) for illusion mitigation. Preliminary results from this study involving 12 medical students (7 males) performing a simulated surgical task found statistical difference between CL, PL, and UL for physical demand (P<0.001), task complexity (P=0.002) and performance times (P<0.001) with no difference for mental demand (P=0.106). These initial findings show that the PL technique cannot currently compensate for the limitations of LESS to make UL more similar to CL. Further research is needed to determine if PL or another LESS compensatory practice can allow surgeons to more effectively perform procedures with a single port and therefore ensure patients reap its benefits.

Adverse events because of medical errors are a leading cause of death in the United States (US) exceeding the mortality rates of motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, and AIDS. Improvements can and should be made to reduce the rates of preventable surgical errors because they account for nearly half of all adverse events within hospitals. Although minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has proven patient benefits such as reduced postoperative pain and hospital stay, its operative environment imposes substantial physical and cognitive strain on the surgeon increasing the risk of error. To mitigate errors and protect patients, a multidisciplinary approach is needed to improve MIS. Clinical human factors, and biomedical engineering principles and methodologies can be used to develop and assess laparoscopic surgery instrumentation, practices, and procedures. First, the foundational understanding and the imperative to transform health care into a high-quality and safe system is discussed. Next, a generalized perspective is presented on the impact of the design and redesign of surgical technologies and processes on human performance. Finally, the future of this field and the research needed to further improve the quality and safety of MIS is discussed.

Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) is a new minimally invasive surgical technique that presents physical and mental challenges to surgeons. Currently, LESS procedures are commonly performed using surgical instruments designed for traditional multi-incision laparoscopic surgery. A pilot study was conducted to determine which laparoscopic instruments were the most efficient for LESS procedures. In a LESS surgical trainer, 24 novice users completed a simple surgical task using standard (non-articulating) straight laparoscopic graspers and two different articulating instruments. Task performance was scored based on completion time and the number of errors. Analyses showed that the use of the simpler straight instruments produced significantly faster times (p = 0.004 and p = 0.014) and higher task scores (p = 0.005 and p = 0.021) than the articulating instruments. These results suggest that standard laparoscopic hand instruments enable better novice performance for a basic LESS task.