Abstract Introduction Laparoscopic surgery training requires technical expertise and non-technical abilities. Surgical education has shifted to immersive digital tools like virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. Despite advancements, effective communication within the surgical team remains a challenge, especially in training where misinterpretation can lead to errors. Virtual pointers, displaying the instructor’s gaze direction through eye-tracking devices and overlaying them on the screen using augmented reality, may improve understanding and decrease errors. This study aims to assess this experimental approach. Material and Methods A Mixed Reality (MR) application integrated with HoloLens 2 glasses has been developed for laparoscopic surgery training. Two subjects, a teacher and a student, conducted testing of the application utilizing an ex vivo porcine jejunum during simulator mesenteric lymphadenectomy. The procedure employed monopolar energy for dissection and vascular control, with a primary focus on tissue plane identification and intracorporeal suturing. Results Both participants rated the system positively, highlighting features like shared pointers and gesture-based annotations. The student found it intuitive (5/5) and useful for learning (5/5), while the instructor emphasized its potential despite minor discomfort (3/5) and pointer desynchronization. Initial results suggest high acceptance and educational relevance, with room for technical improvements. Conclusions This preliminary evaluation highlights the growing role of MR technologies in laparoscopic surgical training, although the impact of transparent optical devices remains uncertain due to their limited application. Emerging technologies like haptic feedback, computer vision, and eye tracking show great promise in enhancing laparoscopic skill acquisition.
Carrasco et al. (Fri,) studied this question.