Virginia Via Research Day Book 2026

Medical Student Research Education and Simulation

10 ASSESSMENT OF A LOW-COST LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY TRAINER AND NOVEL HAND-HELD SCOPE FOR SINGLE SESSION DEXTERITY IMPROVEMENT IN MEDICAL STUDENTS

Lily Beatty, OMS-II; David Grace, OMS-II; Rozlan Basha, OMS-III; Tori Womble, OMS-III; Ryan Martin, BAE; Charles Bissell, MD Corresponding author: lbeatty@vcom.edu

VCOM-Virginia, Blacksburg, Virginia

recordings of participants’ initial and final attempts, focusing on metrics including number of drops, fluidity of movement, speed, and exercise accuracy. We hypothesize that participants will demonstrate significant improvement after the training session, thereby supporting the effectiveness of our low cost laparoscopic trainer. To evaluate the efficacy of the 3D printed scopes we will arrange a similar test for participants. We will use a laparoscopic tower powering a real laparoscopic scope as our control and compare it to our low cost, 3D printed scope. To do this we will split our participants into two groups (one using the real scopes and one using the 3D printed scopes) and have them perform an activity with a partner operating the scope. After a few minutes of practice we will record them performing the task and use the same software we used for the individual excercise to assess metrics such as ability to maintain the procedure in the view of the scope, speed of task completion, and camera steadiness. This will allow us to compare the performance of our cheap, 3D printed scopes with actual laparoscopic scopes in the same setting.

Context: The efficacy of laparoscopic surgery training boxes has been demonstrated extensively and many surgical and obstetrics/gynecology residency programs now incorporate laparoscopic box trainer practice into their curricula. However, a significant gap remains in access and instruction for medical students interested in fields where laparoscopic surgery is widely used, largely due to the cost-prohibitive nature of industry-standard, FLS-certified laparoscopic trainers. Several low cost and homemade laparoscopic training boxes have been produced and described in the literature, however, those trainers rely on a fixed position web camera due to their affordable nature. Because of their bulk and lack of light source, those web cameras cannot be used as a scope by a second operator of the laparoscopic trainer to more accurately simulate the cooperative nature of laparoscopic surgery in the operating room. On top of that, industry standard trainers with a scope capable of being operated by a second party are even more expensive than their industry standard, scopeless counterparts. The issue of an independantly-operated simulation laparoscopic scope has yet to be solved by the low cost laparoscopic trainers described in the current literature.

Objective: It has been previously shown that high-cost laparoscopic trainers are no more effective than low-cost alternatives and several studies have described the development of affordable or homemade trainers capable of producing comparable skill acquisition. Building on a 2019 study that presented the construction and validation of a homemade laparoscopic trainer, we further simplified and reduced the cost of the design while attempting to maintain its functional integrity. We also developed a 3D printed housing for a $15 borehole camera that can be operated by a second operator to simulate a laparoscopic scope. This study aims to describe our trainer’s construction and evaluate its effectiveness in improving laparoscopic dexterity among medical students. This study will also describe the contruction of our cost effective laparoscopic scope and evaluate its usability. Methods: Pending IRB approval, we plan to recruit members of the first and second-year class at VCOM Virginia to complete a peg-and-bead transfer exercise twice: once before a 15-minute practice session and once afterward. Using software such as DeepLabCut, OpenCV, or comparable artificial intelligence based motion-analysis tools, we will analyze video

Table of Contents

166 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM)