Comparison of Three High-End Endoscopic Visualization Systems on Telesurgical Performance

Previous studies and surgeon interviews have shown that most surgeons prefer quality standard definition (SD)TV 2D scopes to first generation 3D endoscopes. The use of a telesurgical system has eased many of the design constraints on traditional endoscopes, enabling the design of a high quality SDTV 3D endoscope and an HDTV endoscopic system with outstanding resolution. The purpose of this study was to examine surgeon performance and preference given the choice between these. The study involved two perceptual tasks and four visual-motor tasks using a telesurgical system using the 2D HDTV endoscope and the SDTV endoscope in both 2D and 3D mode. The use of a telesurgical system enabled recording of all the subjects motions for later analysis. Contrary to experience with early 3D scopes and SDTV 2D scopes, this study showed that despite the superior resolution of the HDTV system surgeons performed better with and preferred the SDTV 3D scope.