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Virtual Surgery Has Real Benefits

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By LINDSAY PETERSON

lpeterson@tampatrib.com

Published: March 7, 2009

Updated: 03/07/2009 12:41 am

TAMPA - When the doctor nicked the patient's uterine wall, the screen showing the procedure turned red with blood.

No problem.

The patient wasn't real.

The University of South Florida showed off its new simulation center at Tampa General Hospital this week, with doctors removing benign tumors and gall bladders, opening blocked arteries and performing other surgeries using minimally invasive devises, such as laparoscopes.

The $1.5 million suite of six "operating rooms" is equipped with machines and computerized mannequins that can mimic dozens of life-like circumstances, the uterine bleeding, for instance, without putting anyone at risk.

In the past, the only way to learn how to use a surgical scope to remove a uterine growth was with a live patient or a pig's bladder, which resembles a human uterus, said Larry Glazerman, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery at USF.

"This is better," fourth-year resident Elana Deutsch said after she cut the inside of her "patient's" uterus to show the surgical problems the machine can reproduce.

As her screen turned red, a voice politely announced that her patient's blood pressure was dropping. "Is there a problem on your side?" the voice asked, with a slight Swiss accent. The machine, made by the Swiss company VirtaMed, is the only one in use outside Switzerland, company CEO Stefan Tuchschmid said.

"The realism of this is just incredible," Glazerman said.

Across the hall, neurosurgery resident Edwin Ramos was trying to move a wire through a patient's arteries to insert a stent into a blocked carotid artery. The patient was a computerized mannequin with the anatomy of a human.

As if working on a live person, Ramos watched the screen as he moved the wire up from the mannequin's groin toward its neck, where the artery narrowed. He continued to work it but the wire wouldn't move.

"I can totally feel the resistance there," he said. He changed the angle of the wire and finally pushed it through, announcing, "Look, I got it."

"This can be extremely frustrating. It really takes patience and practice," said neuroradiologist James Lefler, who was supervising Ramos.

"It was very helpful to get the tactile feel with the wire," Ramos said. "There's not a lot of room for error when you're pushing a wire through a heart and brain."

Deborah Sutherland, an associate dean in the USF College of Medicine, said the simulator training was being integrated into the medical school curriculum.

It's also being offered to outside doctors, she said, noting the center has already filled all 32 slots for a training conference on laparoscopic gynecologic surgery later this month, with fees ranging from $450 to $1,900.

Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834.

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