Yesterday, we had an exceptionally insightful meeting at the European University of Madrid, held at the Simulated Hospital on the Villaviciosa campus. The event was hosted by Simone Sato, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Sports; Emilia Condes, Vice-Dean of Medicine; Lourdes Martín, Vice-Dean of Health Sciences; and Óscar Oliva, Coordinator of the Simulated Hospital.
The central theme of the session was Simulation for Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery, and we were honored to welcome two distinguished guest speakers, José Ignacio Rodríguez García, Coordinator of the Center for Innovation, Transfer, Entrepreneurship, and Medical-Surgical Simulation at HUCA (Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias), and Mario Ruí Gonçalves, Director of FirstTouch Academy, based in Braga.
Participants had the opportunity to test various surgical simulators, practicing different procedures and skill sets on physical models, as well as using the VirtaMed virtual simulator.
VirtaMed is a Swiss company specialized in surgical simulation. Its robotic surgery platform, RoboS, offers a promising alternative for training in robotic skills. Key features of the RoboS simulator, as described by the company, include:
- A hardware that replicates the da Vinci surgeon´s console
- Relevant exercises and performance metrics
- An independent, structured training curriculum
- A strong focus on skills transfer from simulator to actual robotic platforms
Importantly, RoboS operates independently of Intuitive Surgical. While it is based on the design of the da Vinci console, its versatility may allow it to support training for other robotic systems as well. This makes it a potentially more accessible solution for institutions such as medical schools and training centers looking to incorporate basic robotic surgery training.
J Granell. May 13, 2025
PD. More on simulator training.