Practice with the home simulation kit impacts the robotic simulator experience
Within the experimental group, participants attributed a variety of experiences during the second SimNow session to their practice with the home kit, including both technical skills and understanding of the robotic console.In terms of technical skills, participants felt that practicing needle manipulation with the controllers provided with the home simulation kits was useful to develop their dexterity and improve their needle handling and wristed movements.“[The home simulation kit was] helpful to do the motion; just have your fingers in the right place and kind of pick things up and put things down. The sponge was helpful in judging the needle orientation, and the hand motions you need to do the scoop.” (Experimental Participant #12)“[The kit helped] needle control and kind of determining which ways I needed to twist my wrist and my fingers in order to get [the needle] to drive through, which definitely translated over here [at the robotic simulator].” (Experimental Participant #17)Others stated that the home simulation kit helped improve their ambidexterity, a helpful skill for many tasks on the robotic surgery simulator.“Just being a little bit more ambidextrous with how I did the needle driving activity and trying to use the other hand because I’m predominantly right-handed and I think for the first time I was using predominantly my right hand, but I was…more conscious of which hand I was using [during the second session].” (Experimental Participant #18)When probing specifically about how the home simulation kit affected the participants’ haptic feedback, or sense of touch, on the robotic simulator, students highlighted the differences between the haptic sensation in the home kit and that of the robotic simulator.“It's definitely a different haptic feeling. I felt like it was harder to drive the needle through the sponge than it is to drive the needle through the fake robotic sponge. But, just having the haptic feedback was helpful and that is something you get with the home kit.” (Experimental Participant #12)Finally, participants also communicated that the home simulation kit improved their sense of familiarity with the tasks and allowed them to strategize to complete the tasks more efficiently.“I learned how to go about the needle driving activity most efficiently, how to angle my hands so that I could basically just put the needle through very easily and seamlessly.” (Experimental Participant #18)“I think that I was a little bit like, I wouldn’t say slower, but more kind of methodical, and that's something that came from the practice.” (Experimental Participant #4)