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

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

Phase

  • 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

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
Intervention / Treatment
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

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

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

Marmara University

Investigators

  • 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)

January 26, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 8, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

May 20, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 25, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 1, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID 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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