Development of a Skill Evaluation System for the Camera Assistant Using an Infant-Sized Laparoscopic Box Trainer.

AIMS: Our aims were to develop a training system for camera assistants (CA), and evaluate participants' performance as CA.

METHODS: A questionnaire on essential requirements to be a good CA was administered to experts in pediatric endoscopic surgery. An infant-sized box trainer with several markers and lines inside was developed. Participants performed marker capturing and line-tracing tasks using a 5-mm 30° scope. A postexperimental questionnaire on the developed system was administered. The task completion time was measured.

RESULTS: The 5-point evaluation scale was used for each item in the questionnaire survey of experts. The abilities to maintain a horizontal line (mean score: 4.5) and to center the target in a specified rectangle on the monitor (4.5) as well as having a full understanding of the operative procedure (4.3) were ranked as highly important. Fifty-two participants, including 5 surgical residents, were enrolled in the evaluation experiment. The completion time of capturing the markers was significantly longer in the resident group than in the nonresident group (244 versus 124 seconds, P = .04), but that of tracing the lines was not significantly different between the groups. The postexperimental questionnaire showed that the participants felt that the line-tracing tasks (3.7) were more difficult than marker-capturing tasks (2.9).

CONCLUSIONS: Being proficient in manipulating a camera and having adequate knowledge of operative procedures are essential requirements to be a good CA. The ability was different between the resident and nonresident groups even in a simple task such as marker capturing.