What is MIDAS?

MIDAS explores the resilience and surgical education and process through Mixed Reality, biosensors, and artificial intelligence technologies. Within the context of the doctoral dissertation, a tool to support surgical procedures will be developed, both during the training of resident surgeons and during the actual surgical practice. To achieve these goals, modern technologies such as virtual reality (for training) and mixed reality (for use during surgery), biosensory recordings, and artificial intelligence will be employed. The system will be named MIDAS (Exploring the resilience and the surgical education and process through MIxeD reAlity, biosenSor, and artificial intelligence technologies), with its primary objective being the identification of patterns and biomarkers during the surgical process and the derivation of personalized recommendations for improvement. Additionally, it aims to train trainee surgeons and prepare them for entry into surgical procedures. MIDAS will be developed in two phases: In the first phase, it will target trainee surgeons and serve as a training tool in simulating real surgical conditions using virtual reality technologies. In the second phase, it will be directed towards specialized surgeons and will act as an intelligent tool to support the surgical process through mixed reality technology. MIDAS will be useful for monitoring the progression of surgery, providing free access to advanced sleep quality monitoring and disorder detection systems (e.g., stress, etc.). It will also offer personalized advice based on artificial intelligence systems. The innovation of MIDAS lies in the integration of modern technologies for assessing the quality of the surgical process and providing comprehensive support both before (training, biomarker data collection) and during (providing advice, process monitoring) surgery.

Phase 1: Training Specialized Surgeons Using Virtual Reality

• Create a virtual reality tool for the training of specialized surgeons that is useful, acceptable, and user-friendly (G1).
• Improve the performance of specialized surgeons in four surgical interventions through the developed tool (G2).

Phase 2: Supporting the Surgical Process Using Mixed Reality

• Explore the possibility of implementing the MIDAS mixed reality tool in surgical settings to support the surgical process (G3).
• Assess the utility, acceptability, and usability of the MIDAS tool (G4).
• Evaluate the mental health of healthcare professionals in terms of fatigue and the mental health of surgeons using data collected during the surgical process and the previous day, as well as the observation of the impact of their fatigue during the surgery (G5).

The type of study utilized in the aforementioned doctoral thesis is called a feasibility study. Feasibility studies are employed when we want to assess whether an intervention is suitable for further testing. Additionally, they allow technologies or ideas that have been developed to be examined in terms of the need for modifications to best meet their objectives. Furthermore, through feasibility studies, obstacles or problems that could hinder the implementation of an intervention study can be identified.

Name	DOI
Exploring the use of virtual reality in surgical education	10.5500/wjt.v13.i2.36

This study is supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) under the 3rd Call for HFRI PhD Fellowships. The main sectors involved in this project are the Medical Physics and Digital Innovation Lab and the Department of Transplantation and Surgery.

Fellowship duration: April 16, 2022, to December 15, 2024

Phase 1: Training Specialized Surgeons Using Virtual Reality

• Improve the performance of specialized surgeons using the tool in four surgical interventions (laparoscopic cholecystectomy, open cholecystectomy, nephrectomy, kidney transplantation).
• Assess the utility, acceptability, and usability of virtual reality application.

Phase 2: Supporting the Surgical Process Using Mixed Reality

• Investigate the feasibility of implementing an automated support tool for the surgical process and the assessment of conditions within the operating room, including fatigue, mental health, noise, sleep quality, using mixed reality and sensor recordings.
• Assess the utility, acceptability, and usability of mixed reality application.

The MIDAS project is a Ph.D. study being conducted by Giorgos Ntakakis.

Giorgos Ntakakis has accumulated over 11 years of work experience in both software engineering and biomedical research. They currently hold the position of Director of Engineering at Augmented Training Systems, a company specializing in creating immersive and interactive training solutions for the healthcare and education sectors. Additionally, Giorgos also serves as a Senior Software Engineer within the same company, where they are responsible for designing and implementing software components for various projects, utilizing languages such as C#.

Furthermore, Giorgos Ntakakis is a Research Associate and a PhD Candidate at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In this capacity, they focus on medical data analysis and software development for international collaborations with healthcare institutions and enterprises. Giorgos is deeply passionate about applying their skills and knowledge in digital health and medical informatics to develop innovative and impactful solutions that can enhance the quality of life and improve learning outcomes for individuals. They place a high value on teamwork, creativity, and continuous learning, and are eager to contribute to the mission and vision of Augmented Training Systems.