Task and Motion Analyses in Endoscopic Surgery

Abstract

Abstract We present here task and motion analyses, part of a larger study on users, tasks and tools in endoscopic surgery. Expert and novice surgeons’ performance of laparoscopic surgery in training workshops was captured on video and analyzed. Four basic surgical tasks were identified: dissecting tissue, suturing, tying knots, and cutting suture. Each task was decomposed into subtasks with operational beginnings and endings. Subtasks were further analyzed into component motions. Here we discuss: differences between novice and expert surgeons; task constraints that might account for the pattern of results across the different tasks, including precision and safety constraints; differences in manipulation of the same endoscopic tool as a function of the target object; the large number of “additional” motions; difficulties in positioning and orientation of tools to perform the surgical tasks; and the serial execution of reach and grasp movements in endoscopic surgery, compared to their parallel execution in natural prehension.