Investigation of Partial Directed Coherence for Hand-Eye Coordination in Laparoscopic Training

Effective hand-eye coordination is an important aspect of training in laparoscopic surgery. This paper investigates the interdependency of the hand and eye movement along with the variability of their temporal relationships based on Granger-causality. Partial directed coherence is used to reveal the subtle effects of improvement in hand-eye coordination, where the causal relationship between instrument and eye movement gradually reverse during simple laparoscopic tasks. For assessing the practical value of the proposed technique for minimally invasive surgery, two laparoscopic experiments have been conducted to examine the ability of the trainees in handling mental rotation tasks, as well as dissection and manipulation skills in laparoscopic surgery. Detailed experimental results highlight the value of the technique in investigating handeye coordination in laparoscopic training, particularly during early motor learning for complex bimanual procedures.