The AAMC- The Association of Medical Colleges, interviewed Transplant’s Dr. Robert Watson at the Department of Surgery. The article, which can be viewed here, is titled “Technology in Academic Medicine: Using Algorithms to Hone Students’ Surgical Techniques”.
An excerpt below details what Dr. Watson has brought to the table. Please visit the AAMC site to learn more about what Dr. Watson has done to help educate medical students at UNC.
“While he believes there is no substitute for training surgical students via hands-on experience and feedback, there is value in supplementing operating room experience with simulations that use data from sensors to assess students’ surgical techniques, he noted.
Watson developed a motion-tracking device that attaches to a surgeon’s dominant hand and captures hand patterns during simulated surgery. Using principles of machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence, he programmed a computer algorithm to recognize the patterns and classify whether they represented novice or expert proficiency. The methods he devised could lead to low-cost tools that might help students evaluate their own surgical skills and identify ways to improve.”