Surgical Technology Integration with Tools for Cognitive Human Factors (STITCH)
 

Surgical Technology Integration with Tools for Cognitive Human Factors (STITCH)

 

Investigators:
W. Brent Seales Ph,D. (Vis Center)

Melody Carswell Ph,D. (Vis Center)

Dr. Stephen Stup (University of Kentucky Medicine)


Sponsors:

U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center

The world of surgery is a dramatically changing environment today. New surgical technologies are rapidly developing, many of which have trans-formed methods of treatment for both the patient and the surgeon. The STITCH project is aimed at improving technology to make laparoscopy and other types of minimally invasive surgery less stressful, both physically and mentally, for the surgeon.

Our research is showing that a comprehensive framework for measuring cognitive human factors in minimally invasive surgery settings will provide an important set of nonredundant metrics. The metrics can be used for evaluating performance in the context of new technologies, tasks and learning methodologies. These results will be useful for implementing improvements in training methods that seek to use valid cognitive measures as part of the assessment strategy. The research team is developing new technologies for advanced medical techniques that can be used on the battlefield, which is important for the US Army, and also more broadly in the general surgical environment.

University of Kentucky Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments 
Davis Marksbury Building • 329 Rose Street • Lexington, KY 40506-0633
phone: 859-257-1257 fax: 859-257-1505