Effect of Mobile Video Games on Laparoscopic Simulation Skills in Medical Students

August 1, 2026 updated by: Mustafa Umit Ugurlu, Marmara University

Do Mobile Video Games Contribute to Improving Laparoscopic Surgical Skills of Medical Students? A Simulation-Based Study

This study evaluated whether regular mobile video game play could improve laparoscopic simulation performance among medical students without prior surgical or simulation experience. Thirty first-, second-, and third-year medical students were randomly assigned to either a mobile gaming intervention group or a control group. All participants received standardized training using the Simbionix LAP Mentor™ laparoscopic simulator and completed baseline assessments of hand-eye coordination, suture placement, and bimanual maneuver tasks. During the subsequent three-week intervention period, participants in the intervention group played selected mobile games (DATA WING™ and Aim Lab Mobile™) for at least 30 minutes daily, while the control group was instructed not to play mobile games. After the intervention, all participants repeated the same laparoscopic simulation tasks. The primary objective was to determine whether mobile gaming improved laparoscopic performance, as measured by task completion time and performance accuracy. The findings of this study may help clarify whether inexpensive and widely accessible mobile games can serve as an adjunct to simulation-based surgical education for novice medical students.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
30

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Istanbul
      • Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye), 34854
        • Marmara University School of medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Medical students enrolled in the first, second, or third year of medical school.
  • No previous real surgical experience.
  • No previous virtual or laparoscopic simulation training experience.
  • Self-reported mobile game use of less than 3 hours per week before enrollment.
  • Ability and willingness to provide informed consent.
  • Voluntary participation in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous real surgical experience.
  • Previous virtual or simulated surgical training.
  • Mobile game use of 3 hours or more per week before enrollment.
  • Failure or unwillingness to provide informed consent.
  • Withdrawal of consent during the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Mobile Phone Gaming Intervention
Participants were instructed to play the selected mobile video games (DATA WING™ and Aim Lab Mobile™) for at least 30 minutes daily over a 3-week period. Laparoscopic simulation performance was assessed before and after the intervention using the Simbionix LAP Mentor™ simulator.
Behavioral: Mobile Phone Gaming
Participants played DATA WING™ and Aim Lab Mobile™ on a mobile device for at least 30 minutes per day over 3 weeks. The intervention was designed to evaluate whether regular mobile gaming improves laparoscopic simulation performance in novice medical students.
Other Names:
  • Mobile Phone Game Training
No Intervention: Control
Participants did not receive the mobile gaming intervention during the 3-week study period and completed the same baseline and post-intervention laparoscopic simulation assessments as the intervention group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hand-eye coordination task completion time
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks
Change in completion time for the hand-eye coordination module of the Simbionix LAP Mentor™ laparoscopic simulator from baseline to 3 weeks.
Baseline and 3 weeks
Suture placement task completion time
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks
Change in completion time for the suture placement module of the Simbionix LAP Mentor™ laparoscopic simulator from baseline to 3 weeks.
Baseline and 3 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Laparoscopic simulation performance accuracy
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks
Change in accuracy scores for the hand-eye coordination, suture placement, and bimanual maneuver modules of the Simbionix LAP Mentor™ laparoscopic simulator from baseline to 3 weeks.
Baseline and 3 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Marmara University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Director: M. Ümit Uğurlu, Professor of Surgery, M.D., Marmara University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 26, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 8, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 20, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 25, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 1, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 09.2023.312

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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