A trainee surgeon has devised a clever way to develop his skills - by practicing on fruit.<br /><br />Anthony Javed Machikan, 27, performs the procedures using a homemade laparoscopic training box and surgical instruments he was donated.<br /><br />Using his device, Anthony performed laparoscopic procedures on strawberries, melon and grapes.<br /><br />Anthony, a surgical resident at the Danbury Hospital in Connecticut, USA, said: "Just like every individual human, every individual fruit is unique in its own way.<br /><br />"Human anatomy varies slightly in every case and training with fruit presents a slight variation in each case.<br /><br />"Human tissue is quite fragile and sensitive. Any manipulation of the tissue must be precise and with immense care so that you do not inadvertently cause damage.<br /><br />"Tasks such as peeling a grape actually allow you to learn sensitivity and care while manipulating the instruments.<br /><br />"This translates to real life operating where your fingers have learnt muscle memory, knowing right amount of pressure to take so as to not destroy the grape."<br /><br />Laparoscopic instruments are expensive so instead of buying a laparoscopic training box, Anthony bought a wooden box online. <br /> <br />The box contains two holes on either side that are for laparoscopic instruments and a hole in the middle for his iPhone camera to zoom in on what he's doing.<br /><br />The device, which cost £100 ($128), allows him to practice training exercises in the box as if he's operating on a human.<br /><br />Anthony, who is originally from Trinidad, said: "After taking part in a National Surgical Skills competition in Ireland, I realised how expensive the devices were.<br /><br />"The cost to actually buy one of these kits was over £1k ($783), so I decided to make my own.<br /><br />"I bought the wooden box online for £100 ($128) and then I asked a lot of surgical manufacturers if they could donate the laparoscopic instruments to me.<br /><br />"Many of them said no, but two companies thankfully said yes and donated them for free.<br /><br />"The instruments I was donated would cost around £2,350 ($3,000)."<br /><br />Anthony started medical school in 2015 and always knew that he wanted to be a surgeon.<br /><br />It will take another six years for him to become a qualified surgeon with more years needed if he decides to do fellowship.<br /><br />The expertise Anthony has learnt from using the training box has directly translated to real life skills.<br /><br />He was recently able to operate with real life laparoscopic equipment in Rockingham General Hospital in Western Australia while he was there for a year as a general surgery registrar.<br /><br />He successfully completed 10 laparoscopic appendicectomies, where he was the lead surgeon.<br /><br />Anthony's next goal is to begin practicing with robotic simulators in the form of Da Vinci robotic simulators.<br /><br />These are highly specialised instruments that allow major surgeries to occur through extremely small incisions in a patient’s body.
