Preclinical Evaluation of a Novel Steerable Robotic… : Operative Neurosurgery
gainst a standard rigid tool. METHODS: Seventeen participants, 8 nonmedical and 9 medical (neurosurgery residents and fellows), were recruited. The evaluation trial consisted of a task that was completed using either a rigid tool or the steerable tool, followed by the completion of a qualitative survey. Target reach time and tool movement volume (TMV) were recorded for each trial and analyzed. The tools were evaluated within a realistic phantom model of the brain. RESULTS: Preclinical evaluation of both tools showed that average target reach time for the steerable tool among medical personnel (15.0 seconds) was longer than that of the rigid tool (5.9 seconds). However, the average TMV for the steerable tool (0.178 cm3) was much lower than that of the rigid tool (0.501 cm3) for medical personnel, decreasing the TMV by 64.47%. CONCLUSION: The steerable tool required more training and practice in comparison with the standard rigid tool, but it decreased the overall endoscope movement volu