Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the parameters 'time' and 'distance', measured by SurgTrac, correlate with the assessment of the same skills by blinded experts. METHODS: Basic open suturing tasks were executed by medical students. SurgTrac software measured objective parameters by tracking fingers. The executed tasks were recorded by a tablet and additionally assessed by a blinded expert with a Competency Assessment Tool-form (CAT-form). A Pearson's correlation was used to investigate the correlation between the parameters and the outcomes of the expert assessment. RESULTS: A strong correlation between the measured parameters of SurgTrac and the expert-assessment was found for knot tying by hand (r = -0.703) and vertical mattress suture (r = -0.644) and a moderate correlation for transcutaneous suture (r = -0.555) and intracutaneous suture (r = -0.451). CONCLUSION: The use of finger tracking by SurgTrac showed a good concurrent validity for the basic open suturing tasks knot tying by hand, transcutaneous suture and vertical mattress suture.
