44 - Assessment of the Perceived Benefits of Using a Perfusion Body System in Surgical Simulation

Poster Board Number: 44
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Abstract Body : As medical programs place increasing importance on competency-based training and surgical simulations, developing realistic simulations is paramount. Recently, a promising perfusion simulator capable of reproducing the fluidic parameters of blood circulation (e.g., flow rate, blood pressure profiles, pulse rate) into soft-embalmed cadavers has been created.  This perfusion system can perfuse a whole body, allowing surgical teams to practice complex, standardized procedures in a realistic setting without the risks of practicing on real patients. The objective of this study is to evaluate the perceived benefits of using perfused cadaver models in surgical simulation.

To this end, the perfusion body system was introduced to surgical simulation workshops organized by the postgraduate medical education program of McGill university taking place in affiliated simulation centers or in the anatomy laboratory. Under relevant ERB approval, surgical residents, surgical fellows and certified surgeons participating in the aforementioned workshops were asked to complete a validated survey. Questions were developed to assess the perceived experience and to understand the pedagogical benefit of using this perfusion system on surgical skills development. Furthermore, the perceived realism of the system was assessed by constructing a Likert-type scale with the realism parameters: pulsatile blood flow, arterial flow rate and color of perfusion liquid. Participants were also asked to compare surgical simulations using the perfused body system to surgical simulations without the perfusion system and to reflect on their operating room experience.

Our preliminary findings demonstrated that training on a realistic human anatomy model, with realistic pulsatile blood flow and arterial flow rate was deemed highly valuable by certified surgeons. Moreover, we found that the use of perfused cadaver models could significantly improve current surgical training by developing surgical approach and increasing trust in competency. Long term, such results open the door to a new paradigm of surgical training and evaluation where perfusion body systems can be used as high-fidelity simulation models to refine cognitive and technical surgical skills, in addition to simulating standardized complex surgical scenarios.