SeriousGames@Google: Playing Surgery - A Laparoscopy Game for Surgeons on the Nintendo Wii April 2, 2012

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Google Tech Talk
March 9, 2012

Presented by Henk ten Cate Hoedemaker, Tim Laning, and Jetse Goris.

ABSTRACT

Laparascopic (or keyhole) surgery is challenging for surgeons and can be dangerous for patients. The surgeons who perform these procedures need ongoing training and hands on practice. The University Medical Centers of Groningen and Leeuwarden in the Netherlands have teamed up with game developer Grendel Games (http://www.surgical-games.com/) to produce a unique solution. Instead of using expensive, traditional simulators to teach their doctors the motor skills needed for laparoscopic surgery, they have developed a full Nintendo Wii game with customized controls that imitate a surgeon's instruments... but in a non-medical context.

What makes this game unique is the choice to make a virtual game world that offers an immersive storyline, exciting puzzles and pleasing visuals, around the control scheme and motor skills of laparoscopic surgery. This deliberate change of context is unique for a medical serious game.

At the 2010 Game Developers Conference (GDC), the first prototype of this game was presented. Forbes crowned it "one of the ten games that can change the world." The 2010 presentation is one of the most viewed serious games videos in the GDC vault.

Project team members Henk ten Cate Hoedemaker, Tim Laning and Jetse Goris will describe their development process and demo the new version of the game and Wii controllers. Time permitting, local/live attendees will be able test out the redesigned controllers and game.

Bios

H.O. ten Cate Hoedemaker MD
Henk ten Cate Hoedemaker is a gastrointestinal surgeon at the University Medical Center of Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands. His specialities include colorectal surgery, abdominal wall surgery and laparoscopy. In 1999, he won best instructor award at UMCG where he has taught many surgical and laparoscopic courses. Since 2000, he has been medical director of the Wenckebach Institute Skills Center at UMCG (http://goo.gl/lks0E ) . He is also inventor of the C-seal colon stent. (http://goo.gl/GCvWD )

Tim Laning
Tim Laning is CEO and co-founder of the  award winning Dutch serious medical game company Grendel Games (www.grendel-games.com). Grendel Games builds games focused on physical and mental rehabilitation, surgical and medical training for medical education universities, hospitals and rehabilitation institutes. Grendel Games is one of the first companies to partner with medical training hospitals to develop a laparoscopic surgery training game  to be released on Nintendo consoles in 2013.   Laning helped found Gameship (the largest serious game development media lab in the Netherlands) and founded the annual serious game jam G-Ameland in 2007. (http://www.gameship.nl/nl and http://www.g-ameland.nl)

Jetse Goris MSc
Jetse Goris is an educational consultant and researcher at the University Medical Center of Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands. Jetse is currently conducting research to validate the efficacy of a Nintendo Wii laparoscopy game he helped design with UMC Gronigen/Leeuwarden and Grendel Games. Jetse is passionate about using and building innovative technologies to enhance medical teacher and student learning and performance.