Telementoring panel discussion: Comparative Technology in Telementoring 2016

Google Glass has been off the market for approximately one year as of this discussion

Google Glass resolution was insufficient for illustrating tissue planes and fine surgical detail required for effective telestration in surgical mentoring

Google Glass battery life and recording time were limited to approximately 15 minutes for surgical telementoring applications

Google Glass generated uncomfortable heat buildup on the user's head during extended use

Pristine company stripped Google Glass operating system down to essential communication functions to extend battery life and reduce heat buildup

For meaningful surgical cases, Google Glass required wired connection to external battery pack due to insufficient internal battery duration

In robotic surgery the virtual surgeon physically performs tasks on the patient, crossing from mentorship into direct intervention

Four to five companies are developing robust telestration systems expected to launch within the next year

Europe will face similar general surgeon shortages to those projected in the United States

United States board certification for surgeons requires written or oral testing but does not verify actual surgical skill

In the early days of the American Board of Surgery, examiners came to the operating room to observe candidates operate as part of the certification examination process

Surgeon mentality including ego, reluctance to show weakness, and hesitancy to ask for help represents one of the biggest hurdles to telementoring adoption

Policymakers view telemedicine narrowly as direct patient care interaction and do not understand telementoring as a quality initiative

Institutions seeking value-based care will want to ensure the best technical surgical ability is delivered to their patients

There is a lack of good quality studies on surgical telementoring due to logistical obstacles and cumbersome technology

Current telementoring research consists of small case series of 10, 15, or 20 cases rather than large-scale studies

Medical-legal fears and unresolved licensing and credentialing issues prevent widespread telementoring adoption and limit case volumes needed for research