News

Surgical Innovations Conference Highlights HF/E Research

By C. Melody Carswell

     Human factors/ergonomics research was featured in a special session at the 6th Innovations in the Surgical Environment Conference, held March 25-26 in Annapolis, Maryland. The conference focused on innovations in surgical visualization, informatics, and simulation environments as these relate to improved safety - for both the surgeon and the patient.

     Ulrich Malem reviewed the biomechanical risks of modern surgery and the use of ergonomic interventions to reduce the likelihood of long-term disability for the surgeon. I described the importance of monitoring the surgeon's mental workload in the operating room and discussed current methods for measuring the cognitive demands of typical surgical tasks. Frank Drews described the impact of display design on patient safety and the workload of members of the surgical team, focusing especially on anesthesia displays.

     Conference participants were also provided with an opportunity to learn about the specific challenges of wartime deployment of new surgical technologies and procedural innovations via an interactive videoconference with surgeons currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

     Readers who are interested in more details about the conference may contact Ivan George (igeorge@smail.umaryland.edu) at the Maryland Advanced Simulation, Training, Research, and Innovation (MASTRI) Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

C. Melody Carswell is associate professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, where she is also associate director of the Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments.

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