ABSTRACT
A workstation was created to compare the mental workload of surgeons. The surgeons, from various experience levels, were asked to do endoscopic knot tying. The level of stress was assessed in three ways: subjective reports of stress; tonic skin conductance level (SCL); and electro-oculogram. The frequency of the eye blink as picked up by electro-oculogram is a measure of mental load. Eye-blink rate is affected by both degree of mental concentration and the perceived stress. The surgeons were assessed in three different conditions: resting condition; open technique; and endoscopic technique.
