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"The sinus surgery simulator is so real that you actually feel a rotating surgical tool as it cuts through a nasal tumor. Its sophistication is unprecedented," said Marvin Fried, M.D., chairman of Otolaryngology at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. "And, unlike a cadaver, if a student makes a mistake, he or she can practice the risky operation over and over again. Practice makes perfect, so the simulator makes real surgery safer for patients." Using cadavers is the standard method to train physicians in sinus surgery.
The software-driven mannequin can be used by students as they progress from novice to intermediate to advanced stages of surgical training. Practicing otolaryngologists who seek continuing education also can use the new technology. When performing a virtual operation, the parts of the anatomy can be labeled, for learning purposes, or left unlabeled.
Martin, as the computer is named, responds to voice commands such as: "Wake up Martin. Scissors." This request prompts a cartoon pair of scissors to appear inside the virtual anatomy of nasal cavity shown on a monitor. Then, using a hand held device, the student can move the scissors through the three dimensional space to abnormal and infected tissue and remove it. And if, for example, the scissor, scalpel, or other instrument gets too close to the eye, Martin calls out: "Warning. You have cut the lamina papyracea (bone separating nasal and eye cavity)."
"Computers are not new in the operating room," said Dr. Fried. "But, with this training device, technology takes a giant leap into the future. It simulates 15 separate surgical tools, it has tactile feedback (the surgeon actually feels the instrument working), it allows students to maneuver tools through a 3-D virtual space that replicates the anatomy of the nose, and it can teach surgeons to operate on many different types of ailments. For example, you can tell the computer to create a foreign body or a polyp, then have the student correct the problem."
The majority of the more of 250,000 endoscopic sinus surgery operations performed each year in the United States are to relieve chronic sinus disease that involve nasal polyps, infections and tumors. These procedures are the highest risk operation otolaryngologists (ear, nose and throat doctors) perform.
The use of the simulator has major implications in surgical training, especially in areas of the world where operating on cadavers is forbidden.
The sinus surgery simulator, which has been used in U.S. Army hospitals, was created by Lockheed Martin and MedOps, a Cambridge, MA company. Montefiore is the test site for private non-profit teaching hospitals in the United States.
To ensure anatomical accuracy, the virtual patient model incorporated high-resolution digital images of human anatomy from the National Library of Medicine’s Visible Human Project.
Montefiore Medical Centeris internationally recognized as a leader in patient care, education, research and community service. It is the teaching hospital for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and encompasses two acute care hospitals, two new ambulatory specialty care centers, a network of more than 30 primary care offices in the Bronx and Westchester, and one of the nation’s largest home health agencies.
Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, ranks among the top one percent of all US hospitals based on its investments in medical innovation and cutting-edge technology.
Montefiore invests more in order to enable compassionate, personalized care and the most positive outcomes for patients and their families in New York, the tri-state area and beyond.
Montefiore’s unique combination of ‘state-of-the-art’ technology with ‘state-of-the-heart’ medical and nursing care in a teaching and research environment provides patients with access to world-class medical experts, the newest and most innovative treatments and the best medical center experience anywhere.
This 1,062 bed medical center includes the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, the Jack D. Weiler Hospital and The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, a large home healthcare agency and a 21-site medical group practice located throughout the Bronx and nearby Westchester.
Montefiore treats all major illnesses and has distinguished centers of excellence in cardiology and cardiac surgery, cancer care, tissue and organ transplantation, children's health, women's health, surgery and the surgical subspecialties. Montefiore Medical Center focuses on providing family-centered healthcare in a nurturing environment that extends well beyond hospital and clinic walls.
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