Development of the User Experience (UX) and Video Quality Evaluation (VQE) Instruments for Assessment of Intraoperative Video Capture Technology

Objective: There exists a lack of technology to reliably and routinely capture high-quality video of open surgical procedures. To critically evaluate and compare new and existing technology solutions, we must have widely accepted evaluation criteria for intraoperative camera devices. The objective, therefore, was to develop evaluation criteria for intraoperative camera devices, as well as the video product they produce.

Design: A modified Delphi process that included 2 iterative surveys was used to build expert consensus and develop 2 evaluation instruments: one to evaluate the user experience (UX) of using an intraoperative camera device, and the second for video quality evaluation (VQE) of the video product.

Setting: Global, through iterative online surveys.

Participants: Surgeons who perform open surgery and have experience with intraoperative video capture.

Results: Eighty-six experts participated in the first iteration of the survey and 46 in the second. Ten factors met the a priori cutoff for >80% agreement for the UX survey: (1) ease of setup/integration with current practice, (2) comfort, (3) distracting during case, (4) overall satisfaction with wearing the device, (5) would you use this device again, (6) would you recommend this device to colleagues, (7) the weight of wearing the device, (8) sufficient battery life, (9) ability to control device while operating, and (10) degree to which the device interferes or is incompatible with other surgical accessories. Six factors met the cutoff for the VQE survey: (1) camera stability, (2) brightness/exposure, (3) resolution/sharpness, (4) unobstructed view of the surgical field, (5) appropriate field of view, and (6) overall satisfaction with video quality.

Conclusions: These instruments can be used to critically evaluate camera technologies for intraoperative video capture of open surgery.