New surgical procedures: can we minimise the learning curve?

Can We Measure the Learning Curve of Colonoscopy Using Polyp Detection Rate?

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroid surgery: how can we improve the learning curve?

OBJECTIVE Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) is a technically demanding procedure and requires a surgical team skilled in both endocrine and endoscopic surgery. A time consuming learning and training period is mandatory at the beginning of the experience. The aim of our report is to focus some aspects of the learning curve of the surgeon who practices video-assisted thyroid...

Anticoagulation, novel agents, and procedures: can we pardon the interruption?

When a patient with atrial fibrillation (AF) interrupts oral anticoagulation to undergo an invasive procedure, the clinician must answer 2 questions: For how long should the anticoagulant be stopped before the procedure, and should a bridging strategy be used with a shorter-acting agent? These questions are extremely important to the clinician who wants neither to use too much anticoagulation a...

Immersive Learning Experiences for Surgical Procedures

This paper introduces a computer-based system that is designed to record a surgical procedure with multiple depth cameras and reconstruct in three dimensions the dynamic geometry of the actions and events that occur during the procedure. The resulting 3D-plus-time data takes the form of dynamic, textured geometry and can be immersively examined at a later time; equipped with a Virtual Reality h...

How can we enhance the value of laboratory tests?

Today, the pressures on the healthcare systems for the controlling of the costs are extreme and all sectors try to demonstrate the value of their services by justifying the activities and expenditures so the value can be describe in terms like quality, efficiency, effectiveness, patient satisfaction, cost effectiveness .The value of the lab testing is generally directed to their costs and the c...