Training in the Digital Era

Every good trainee aims at getting better, improving efficiency through practice and emulation of a mentor, noted Supriya Sriganesh. Reviewing every surgical video is also beneficial, but it is a habit almost nobody retains. A new software option may help reduce the time-consuming limitations of current technology.

Despite having an operating microscope and a reliable recording system, many surgical videos end up forgotten inside the hard disk, Dr Sriganesh observed. Based on her experience, the reason can be found in the time wasted in plugging the physical hard disk into a personal computer, selecting the right video, and waiting for the download. It is a cumbersome process due to the file size and often disorganised browsing software.

What if these videos were easily accessed on a mobile phone or laptop with just a click? A new training technology presented by Dr Sriganesh called Zeiss Surgery Optimizer is a cloud-based software program that uploads videos from the Callisto recording system, making them accessible from every compatible device. It is now possible to review all personal surgical videos regardless of location. The system features not only the user institution’s cases, but also unedited cases from surgeons all over the world.

The Zeiss Surgery Optimizer also features an AI-powered organiser that splits the videos into different surgical phases, facilitating access to selected parts of the surgery, with timestamps, biometry, OCT, and IOLMaster data included.

According to Dr Sriganesh, the most important feature, especially for training purposes, is ‘Compare.’ In this section, users can select a video from the featured cases or a mentor and place it next to a personal surgical video to learn by comparison.

In her case, it was effective enough to lower her surgical time in cataract surgery from 15 to 6 minutes. A “huge change,” she said.

Dr Sriganesh then decided to test trainees in her institution, 24 in total, tracking 30 cataract surgeries each in three months. Trainees using the Surgery Optimizer improved significantly more—achieving a very consistent International Council of Ophthalmology Surgical Competency Assessment Rubric (OSCAR) score, from an average surgical time of 45 minutes to 15 minutes after three months. Only 30% of the videos were reviewed in the non-Surgical Optimizer group, whereas the Surgical Optimizer group reviewed 100% of surgical videos, which Dr Sriganesh said really made the difference.

She suggested these data show this technique as an effective way to reduce the burden on trainers, making training much easier and more efficient.

Dr Sriganesh spoke at the 2024 ESCRS Congress in Barcelona.

Supriya Samak Sriganesh MBBS, MS, FPRS is Executive Director and Cataract and Refractive Surgeon at the Nethradhama Eye Hospital, Bangalore, India. samak.supriya@gmail.com