“We are thrilled to have integrated Fundamental Surgery into the GAPS Centre and to have also had the group of orthopaedic trainees go through the program, experiencing the Posterior Approach Total Hip Replacement (PTHR) on the machine for the first time,” said Omar Sabri, consultant at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and lead consultant on the integration into the program. “Through this integration, trainees can now demonstrate the skills they’ve learned by using this technology and have it reflected in their educational portfolio and Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Project. This along with the Royal College approval are just the start for Fundamental Surgery’s platform and the team’s effort to integrate it into all surgical training programs across the country.”
With the integration, the trainees at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust can now utilize the Fundamental Surgery platform to test and hone their skills. Through the platform’s live dashboard, the trainees and their professors can review their performances and scores achieved, allowing both parties to visualize their progression with all aspects of the training module.
“We are thrilled to be working with such a prestigious teaching hospital. Our education platform has tremendous long-term potential for enhancing surgical training throughout the NHS, in the pursuit of better patient outcomes,” said Richard Vincent, CEO at FundamentalVR. “The implementation is further proof that our haptic simulations provide a virtual environment that can help provides access and aid training development.”
Named as one of the best inventions of 2018 by Time magazine, the Fundamental Surgery platform was launched in August 2018. It combines virtual reality (VR) with cutting-edge haptics to create a scalable ‘flight simulator’ experience for trainee and qualified surgeons, allowing them to experience and navigate the same visuals, sounds and feelings they would during a real surgical procedure.
What sets Fundamental Surgery apart from other solutions is that it is designed to be equipment agnostic, compatible with any laptop, VR headset or haptic device enabling it to be delivered at a fraction of the cost. Furthermore its remote data analytics and data dashboard covering surgical skills and knowledge provide invaluable insight into surgical capability and education progression.
While other simulations are limited to visual and audio interactions, Fundamental Surgery takes it to a new level with HapticVRTM, its proprietary technology that adds a real-time sense of touch. Surgical trainees can feel the movement and interaction of tissue, muscle and bone as they would in an actual procedure within a submillimeter of accuracy of resistance.
ABOUT ST GEORGES
GAPS is an inter-professional training facility at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London. The team is part of the thriving education and development department with state of the art facilities that use simulation, technology and other educational tools and techniques to help healthcare teams and individuals achieve their full potential. The centre includes two full-immersion high-fidelity simulation suits, a fully-equipped surgical skills lab, part-task trainers and a post-graduate dental and micro-surgery unit with a specific aim of enhancing patient care through learner centred simulation and skills training.
