NCT06524297

The Training of Resident Surgeons in Single-Port Thoracoscopic Surgery Wound Position Selection

The Role of a Metaverse Surgical Simulation System in Guiding Incision Site Selection for Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 80 (estimated)
• Sponsor: National Taiwan University Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

the metaverse system applied to the training of wound location selection for singleport thoracoscopic surgery. The experimental design is two groups of 40 computer tomography located superficially less than 2 cm lung nodule patients, one group uses the metaverse system to let resident physicians simulate the wound position on the digital twin organs of each patient, and the other group does not use it. The investigators will evaluate the surgeon's satisfaction with the surgical wound position and urgicalrelated results (such as surgery time, blood loss, etc.). The investigators expect that the system will help improve the appropriateness of resident physicians' choice of wound location for high-difficulty single-port thoracoscopic surgery, help them cross the first threshold necessary to familiarize themselves with the surgery faster, and accelerate learning.

Detailed description

The evolution of single-port thoracoscopic surgery, due to advancements in instrumentation and video technology, has seen a leap in progress since the 2010s. Today, single-port thoracoscopic surgery has become the mainstream at NTU Thoracic Surgery, capable of performing simple wedge resections or complex pneumonectomies. Single-port thoracoscopic surgery, using only a single wound, aids patients in quickly regaining their preoperative normal life functions, with further reductions in pain. However, its learning curve is steep, with the appropriate choice of wound location being one of the most important thresholds for resident physicians to master this technique. Currently, NTU Surgery and the Media Lab have jointly developed a metaverse surgical simulation platform (OpVerse), creating digital twin organ models through 3D reconstruction software and modeling engines. In mixed reality, including lesion location and anatomical variations, are no different from specific real patients. Users can view and operate CT images and 3D models arbitrarily, mark important structural positions and directions, and measure distances with an XR helmet. The model can also be cross-referenced with CT through cross-sectional positioning. The investigators set up a thoracoscopic simulation lens in the system, superimposing the digital twin model on the patient on the operating table, and using the CT cross-section comparison function in the metaverse system to find the lesion location, resident physicians can repeatedly simulate the wound position through the system, and mark the expected entry wound position on the patient through virtual reality overlay. This project plans to conduct a randomized trial to explore the effectiveness of the metaverse system applied to the training of wound location selection for singleport thoracoscopic surgery. The experimental design is two groups of 40 computer tomography located superficially less than 2 cm lung nodule patients, one group uses the metaverse system to let resident physicians simulate the wound position on the digital twin organs of each patient, and the other group does not use it. The investigators will evaluate the surgeon's satisfaction with the surgical wound position and surgical related results (such as surgery time, blood loss, etc.). The investigators expect that the system will help improve the appropriateness of resident physicians' choice of wound location for high-difficulty single-port thoracoscopic surgery, help them cross the first threshold necessary to familiarize themselves with the surgery faster, and accelerate learning.

Conditions

• Surgical Education

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Metaverse system (Patients)	The experimental group will undergo preoperative training using the metaverse surgical simulation system for 15 minutes before selecting the surgical incision site (this refers to residents receiving the assisted training). The trial process requires participants' consent to provide high-resolution CT images as the basis for reconstructing digital twin organs. Except for the intervention training, the surgery, postoperative care, follow-up, and other treatment processes the participants receive will be the same as those for typical patients.
OTHER	Metaverse system (Resident Physician)	The participants (residents) will receive 15 minutes of preoperative training using the Metaverse surgical simulation system. They will superimpose the digital twin model onto the patient on the operating table and use the CT cross-sectional matching function within the Metaverse system to locate the lesion. The participants (residents) can use the system to repeatedly simulate incision sites and mark planned entry points on the patient by overlaying the virtual model onto the real patient. Except for the intervention training with the system, the subsequent surgery, postoperative care, follow-up, and other treatment processes the patients receive will be the same as usual.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-08-15
• Primary completion: 2025-11-30
• Completion: 2025-12-31
• First posted: 2024-07-29
• Last updated: 2025-05-14