Contribution to the objective assessment of technical skills for surgery students: An accelerometer based approach

Aim of study: Gestural skills assessment in odontology is a highly complex task. Although mandatory for certification, proficiency assessment is still required for parameters that are more objective. Our aim was to assess whether accelerometer sensors might contribute to distinguishing efficiency in therapeutic gesture from experts and novices in the realization of surgical sutures. Material and method: 3 groups of participants: novices (n = 8), intermediaries (n = 14) and experts (n = 7) were enrolled in the study. They had to perform different types of odontological suture. We used 2 wireless wrist sensors to measure objectively the acceleration of both hands and to deduce the economy and the fluidity of the movement. A video recording was also used to complete the assessment. Results: The time and motion criteria were documented to significantly correlate with the experience of the participant. The total time factor has a significant effect with the experience level (p = 0.006). The fluidity of the movement has also been shown to vary significantly between groups. Conclusion: The use of accelerometers coupled with image analysis could make it possible to envisage in the long run an objective evaluation for this type of surgical gesture. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.