Canfield students adept at surgical device, thanks to video games

CANFIELD

Hilltop Elementary School students on showed their hand-eye coordination skills with surgeon-training technology Tuesday.

The event was part of STEM Week – science, technology, engineering and math.

Dr. Dennis Orr, a surgeon at Northside Hospital, brought a device used to train surgeons for the students to interact with, as part of the technology aspect of STEM.

The endo-surgical device is a box containing a peg board with four pegs placed a few inches apart. The rubber bands on the pegs are meant to be moved from one to the other. There are holes in the top for a grabbing tool to maneuver through to move the rubber bands, and a webcam. The web-cam allows users to see their actions on a monitor.

Students were more focused than volunteer Bill Stilson thought they would be, he said.

“They are so intent and concentrating, and it finally dawned on me, this is what they do – this is what they do at home, play video games,” Stilson said.

Joe Maroni, Hilltop principal, said despite the bad reputation video games get, this hands-on method highlights the hand-eye coordination skills students have developed through playing them.

“This is fun,” said first-grader Collin Casey while learning to operate the surgical-training device.

Read more about the event in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.