Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery procedure training meets serious games

The off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OP-CAB) cardiac surgical procedure allows for a blocked coronary artery to be bypassed with a healthy artery or vein from another part of the body while the heart is beating in contrast to traditional coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) which requires the use of a cardiopulmonary pump. Eliminating the cardiopulmonary pump, leads to a reduction in the number of postoperative complications. Despite the benefits associated with OPCAB and more specifically, its non-reliance on the cardiopulmonary pump, the OPCAB procedure itself is complex and technically challenging and therefore, it has been suggested that "appropriate training" be provided before operating on patients. Here we describe the preliminary development of an interactive, multi-player serious game for the purpose of training cardiac surgeons/residents the series of steps comprising the OPCAB procedure. By learning the OPCAB procedure in a "first-person-shooter gaming environment", trainees will have a much better understanding of the procedure than by traditional learning modalities.