WISER FIELD REPORT
The WISER Institute teaches the dexterity skills for bronchoscopy to students. Here, a technician demonstrates proper technique for holding the bronchoscope taught and not turning one's whole body to turn the bronchoscope.
LEARNING MOTOR SKILLS
Pictured left, is the part of the bronchoscope used to control the dorsal and ventral movement of the bronchoscope, as well as the rotational movement. Superior or inferior movement is controlled by the extension or retraction of the hand not holding this piece.
STAGE ONE
This stage concerns building basic skills of identifying cause and effect of motor action and its directional effect on the bronchoscope. Students are directed to move the camera of the bronchoscope to different positions on a low resolution prototype resembling a clock face. Students may use either the bronchoscope screen or the clock face in front of them to understand position.
STAGE TWO
Once basic skills have been built, this stage concerns keeping sense of direction using only visual feedback from the bronchoscope screen. Again, students are directed to move the camera of the bronchoscope to different positions on the same low resolution prototype. Students may only use the bronchoscope screen to understand position.
STAGE THREE
This stage utilizes a different model, a model human with realistic anatomy. In this stage, students learn to recognize and navigate human anatomy on this high resolution model. Students may only use the bronchoscope screen to understand position.
NEEDED
The current model for Stage 1 and 2 was created in WISER to specifically address the need for a portable, inexpensive training tool to teach basic bronchoscopy principles. However, there is a large difference from practicing on the Stage 1/2 trainer (small, functional but anatomically inaccurate) to the Stage 3 trainer (large, accurate, is not portable).
The technician described a need for a "Stage 2.5" trainer: combining the portability and economic feasibility of the Stage 1/2 trainer with the accuracy of the Stage 3 trainer. Preferably, this trainer should have quick assembly and breakdown, be compact and be modifiable (preferably able to advance with skill level or showcase different common anatomical abnormalities).