Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine has won a Queens Anniversary Prize for its outstanding contribution in the area of research and training in surgery. The announcement was made on the evening of 16 November at a reception at St Jamess Palace.
Professor Ara Darzi, Head of the Department of Surgical Oncology and Technology, Division of Surgery, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Imperial College School of Medicine, and his team were recognised for their world class achievements in pioneering new technologies to address training requirements for trainee surgeons, surgeons in post and other professionals.
Their innovative work in the use of simulations and virtual reality is internationally recognised as offering a way forward for surgical education.
Lord Oxburgh, Rector, Imperial College, said: "I am delighted that Professor Ara Darzi and his team have been awarded such a prestigious prize for their pioneering work in advanced surgical technologies."
Professor Darzis team is internationally recognised for their research into advanced surgical technologies and their clinical application. The research focuses on the way surgeons acquire, and are taught, the manual skills necessary to practise as surgeons and how these skills can be measured and enhanced.
The team have also developed a number of instruments, devices and procedures that impact on surgery, particularly minimal access surgery. They also undertake biological research related to new surgical procedures.
The team have pioneered a number of virtual-reality simulations which allow common surgical procedures to be practised repeatedly in a non-patient environment. They have developed a computer-based device which tracks the movements that a surgeon makes when operating and computes scores of how dextrous he or she is on the basis of time taken, distance travelled and the number of movements.
The device can be used in real surgery or in training with plas
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Contact: Susie Renshaw
s.renshaw@ic.ac.uk
44-207-594-6701
Imperial College London
16-Nov-2000