How Fortnite and Zelda Can Up Your Surgical Game (No Joke!)

AHA Publisher — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 07:00:27 +0000

University of Ottowa via EurekAlert – Scalpel? Check. Gaming console? Check. Study finds video games can be a new tool on surgical tray for medical students. Video games offer students obvious respite from the stresses of studies and, now, a study from a University of Ottawa medical student has found they could benefit surgical skills training. Arnav Gupta carries a heavy course load as a third-year student in the Faculty of Medicine, so winding down with a game of Legend of Zelda always provides relief from the rigorous of study. But Zelda may be helping improve his surgical education, too, as Gupta and a team of researchers from the University of Toronto found in a paper they recently published in the medical journal Surgery. “Given the limited availability of simulators and the high accessibility of video games, medical students interested in surgical specialties should know that video games may be a valuable adjunct training for enhancing their medical education, especially in surgical specialties where it can be critical,” says Gupta, whose findings were deciphered from a systematic review of 16 studies involving 575 participants. “Particularly, in robotic surgery, being a video gamer was associated with improvements in time to completion, economy of motion, and overall performance. In laparoscopic surgery, video games-based training was associated with improvement in duration on certain tasks, economy of motion, accuracy, and overall performance,” explains Gupta, who has been a gamer since age 8. This study builds on past reviews and is the first to focus on a specific medical student population where this style of training could be feasibly implemented. Their timely study found some of the most beneficial games for students of robotic surgery and laparoscopy were: Super Monkey Ball, Half Life, Rocket League and Underground. Underground is purposely designed to assist medical students with their robotic surgery training via a video game console. “While video games can never replace the value of first-hand experience, they do have merit as an adjunctive tool, especially when attempting to replicate important movements to surgery. For example, first-person shooting games require you to translate three dimensional motions onto a two-dimensional screen, which is like the concept of laparoscopic surgery,” says Gupta, whose studies are focused on surgery in ophthalmology, which makes games like Resident Evil 4 or Trauma Center: New Blood fitted for his own ambitions. “I’m not joking when I say that games such as Fortnite have the potential to enhance those necessary movements, providing stronger motivational components and in a low stakes environment.” Reports suggest 55 percent of university students are gamers and enjoy proficiency with video consoles. Yet, many medical students don’t admit to owning and using a gaming console. “I think there definitely is some ambivalence towards video games in medicine,” says Gupta, who is also a fan of Witcher 3. “Given how accessible games have become and how video game technology is advancing, video games definitely are an easy go-to for the students who do love them in some capacity. The hope is that maybe this study can inspire someone to take advantage of video games’ unique capabilities, reduce the general ambivalence towards it, and develop some fun ways to let students engage with surgical education.” To read the original article click here.

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Surgeons Safely Remove Mystery Bullet from Boy’s Brain

AHA Publisher — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 07:00:02 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – ‘It’s quite remarkable,’ says Israeli pediatric neurosurgeon. ‘Two days after the surgery, the boy is eating, talking and moving his limbs.’ On the Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha on Friday, in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, a stray bullet from celebratory gunfire hit a nine-year-old boy in the head. He was rushed to Hadassah University Medical Center, where a CT scan showed that a 3/4-inch, heavy bullet penetrated his skull from the right side. It tore a path through his brain and stopped, lodged just inside the left side of the boy’s skull. But when the surgeon looked for it, the bullet wasn’t there. “We turned him onto his stomach on the operating table to give us best access to the left side of his head,” said senior pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Guy Elor. “But when we began exploring we saw exactly where the bullet should have been but it wasn’t there. It seems when we turned him over gravity did its thing and we had to start searching for it.” With the help of ultrasound and X-rays, they discovered the bullet had receded several inches into his brain. It was in the occipital lobe, which includes the visual cortex. Its route from entry included parts of the brain responsible for motor skills, behavior and higher thought, just missing major arteries and veins by a tenth of an inch. Once they found bullet, the team used a bayonet tweezer to lift it out delicately. Elor coordinated with anesthesiologist Dr. Chloe Mimouni, who stresses the special challenges of working with a child neurological patient. “I didn’t expect to be able to wake the kid up and extubate him right after the surgery. But the team members – nurse, surgeons and anesthesiologists – were great. Communication was perfect, as always with Dr. Elor, and that’s why it ended up better than expected.” Multiple factors determine the extent of damage caused by a gunshot wound. These include the caliber of the gun, size and speed of the bullet, the trajectory and site of the injury — and the skill of the surgical team. “It’s quite remarkable,” says Elor. “Two days after the surgery, the boy is eating, talking and moving his limbs.” To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

The post Surgeons Safely Remove Mystery Bullet from Boy’s Brain appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

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How Fortnite and Zelda Can Up Your Surgical Game (No Joke!)

Surgeons Safely Remove Mystery Bullet from Boy’s Brain