A MICROPROCESSOR-CONTROLLED PSYCHOMOTOR TESTER FOR MINIMAL ACCESS SURGERY

Background: There is Little reported information on psychomotor perfor mance in relation to minimal access surgery (MAS). Methods: A micropro cessor-controlled endoscopic psychomotor tester (the Dundee Endoscopic Psychomotor Tester-DEFT) has been developed to evaluate psychomotor a spects of MAS. Experiments were conducted on 20 medical undergraduates to evaluate accuracy and reliability of the tester. Results: The stud y demonstrated a significant difference between subjects (p < 0.01). I t also identified three individuals who enacted 16, 22, and 40 errors while the majority (85%) sustained less errors with a median of 4.5. C onclusions: DEFT provides a standard, reproducible, objective real-tim e scoring system. It identifies individuals who cannot adjust to endos copic viewing and therefore manipulate from endoscopic images.