Image credit: Underground game by
Grendel Games
Games for Health Europe 2018,
to be held on 8 & 9 October at TAC (Temporary Art Centre) Eindhoven in The
Netherlands, includes on its first day program the session Saving Robots Improves Laparoscopic
Performance: Transfer Of Skills From A Serious Game To A Virtual Reality Simulator,
presented by Wouter IJgosse.
Wouter M. IJgosse
works as a PhD candidate at the Department of Surgery, Radboud University
Medical Center, Nijmegen. He started his research on the topic of surgical
education addressing the use of new technologies for basic and advanced
laparoscopic skills training and is now focused on the potential of Serious Games
in this area.
Surgical
doctors-in-training residents all around the world have access to various box
trainers and virtual reality simulators to train and maintain their
laparoscopic skillset. However, due to a high workload, at the end of the day
not everyone has time and energy to practice on these repetitive machines. By
turning these drills into a fun and engaging Serious Game, experienced doctors
and doctors-in-training can practice them at home, and, more importantly, have
fun while doing so.
Wouter has investigated
construct validity for the laparoscopic game Underground, by comparing simulator
performance for two groups:
“The control group
trained on the FLS Video Trainer and the LapSim VR Simulator for four sessions,
while the Underground group played Underground for three sessions
followed by a transfer session on the FLS Video Trainer and the LapSim.”
The Underground
group outperformed the control group on all three LapSim motor skills: Camera Navigation;
Instrument Navigation and Coordination, demonstrating skills transfer between a
Serious Game and validated laparoscopic simulator technology.
Underground Game Background
In 2010, Grendel Games in partnership
with surgeon, Dr. Henk ten, presented an early prototype of their innovative
laparoscopic training concept at Games for Health. Five years later they managed
to develop a truly immersive training platform, Underground, that
utilizes the Nintendo Wii U console with an innovative controller system that
feels remarkably similar to real-life laparoscopic instruments.
Underground is a puzzle game and at the same time a validated
training tool for laparoscopic motor skills.
The medical version of the game
comes with a set of controllers designed to mimic the laparoscopic equipment
and surgery motion to a very high degree of accuracy. 
Underground innovative controller
system
The game features a
heartwarming storyline about a brave little girl named Sari and her robot friend
Sw4nk. When Sw4nk does an unsatisfying job, Sari’s father sends him away to
work in the mines. Sari goes against her father’s will and tries to break him
out.
While traveling
through the underground caverns, Sari and the robots get themselves into a
world of trouble and it is up to the player help them out.
During their quest for safety, players are
presented with challenging situations in four different worlds, each with their
own threats and opportunities.
Image credit: Underground game by Grendel Games
About Grendel Games
Grendel Games is a
development studio of both entertainment and Serious Games.
They offer clients result-focused
solutions for serious problems. These include obesity in children, peaks in water
consumption and motivating children to do their rehabilitation exercises.
They want to make Serious
Games accessible for everyone, so they sometimes come up with out-of-the-box
solutions. In the Underground game, they developed affordable
controllers and got them produced themselves.
The company was
founded in 2003 and is based in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.