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Lee White, PhD

I am a resident in the Stanford University Department of Urology. This website describes my interests and includes a list of my publications and projects. I completed my doctoral research on training and evaluation of robotic surgical techniques with the Biorobotics Lab at the University of Washington in Spring 2013. I am a co-founder of C-SATS, Inc., a surgical performance assessment company that uses expert reviews and the wisdom of the crowd to train surgeons and medical practitioners. I am interested in surgical techniques and technology including methods to enhance human skill with machine capabilities (robotic surgery and artificial intelligence). 

Current Research

Surgical robotics and surgical training

• I am seeking interesting projects involving surgical robotics, training, technology in the OR, and surgical training in the developing world. I am available for primary research and as a consultant.
• Special interest in urology and surgical education.

C-SATS, Inc. - Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills

• Contact me about our training services for medical practitioners including residents in surgery, urology and obstetrics/gynecology.
• <firstname>[dot]<lastname>[at]csats[dot]com
• csats.com

Surgical training partnership with Tikur Anbessa Hospital

• Collaborative partnership between researchers and surgeons at Stanford University, University of Washington and Tikur Anbessa Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, part of Addis Ababa University.
• We aim to supplement surgical education with simulation curriculum and crowd-based performance assessment.

Education

Stanford University Department of Urology- Stanford, CA

• Resident Physician - Current

Stanford University School of Medicine - Stanford, CA

• Doctor of Medicine
• Interests
• Surgical Training
• Surgical Technology
• Developing World Medicine

University of Washington - Seattle, WA

• Doctor of Philosophy - 2013
• Thesis: Quantitative Objective Assessment of Preoperative Warm-up for Robotic Surgery

Tulane University - New Orleans, LA

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering - 2008
• Thesis: Development of an Optical Neurostimulator

Publications, Talks and Patents

Updated: Aug. 15, 2015

ARTICLES

• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills: An Adjunct to Urology Resident Surgical Simulation Training. Holst D, Kowalewski TM, White LW, Brand TC, Harper JD, Sorenson MD, Kirsch S, Lendvay TS. Journal of Endourology. 2015.
• Comparison of Two Simulation Systems to Support Robotic-Assisted Surgical Training: A Pilot Study (Swine Model). Whitehurst SV, Lockrow EG, Lendvay TS, Propst AM, Dunlow SG, Rosemeyer CJ, Gobern JM, White LW, Skinner A, Buller JL. Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology. 2015.
• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Surgical Skills in Cricothyrotomy Procedure. Aghdasi N, Bly R, White LW, Hannaford B, Moe K, Lendvay TS. Journal of Surgical Research. 2015.
• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skill (C-SATS): A Valid Method for Discriminating Basic Robotic Surgery Skills. White LW, Kowalewski TM, Dockter R, Comstock B, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. Journal of Endourology. 2015.
• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills (C-SATS): Differentiating Animate Surgical Skill Through the Wisdom of Crowds.. Holst D, Kowalewski TM, White LW, Brand TC, Harper JD, Sorensen MD, Truong M, Simpson K, Tanaka A, Smith R, Lendvay TS. Journal of Endourology. 2015.
• Beyond Task Time: Automated Measurement Augments FLS Methodology. Kowalewski TM, White LW, Lendvay TS, Jiang IS, Sweet R, Wright A, Hannaford B, Sinanan MN. Journal of Surgical Research. 2014.
• Raven Surgical Robot Training in Preparation for da Vinci. Glassman D, White LW, Lewis A, King H, Clarke A, Glassman T, Comstock B, Hannaford B, Lendvay, TS. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. 2014.
• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills: a Novel Method to Evaluate Surgical Performance. Chen C, White LW, Kowalewski TM, Aggarwal R, Lintott C, Comstock B, Kuksenok K, Aragon C, Holst D, Lendvay TS. Journal of Surgical Research. 2014.
• Preliminary Articulable Probe Designs With RAVEN and Challenges: Image Guided Robotic Surgery Multitool System. Yoon WJ, Velasquez CA, White LW, Hannaford B, Kim YS, Lendvay TS. Journal of Medical Devices. 2013.
• SurgTrak – A Universal Platform for Quantitative Surgical Data Capture. Ruda R, Beekman D, White LW, Lendvay TS, Kowalewski TM. Journal of Medical Devices. 2013.
• Virtual Reality Robotic Surgery Warm-Up Improves Surgical Performance: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study. Lendvay TS, Timothy Brand, White LW, Timothy Kowalewski, Jonnadula S, Mercer L, Koursand D, Andros J, Hannaford B, Satava RM. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2013.
• Raven-II: An Open Platform for Surgical Robotics Research. Hannaford B, Rosen J, Friedman DW, King H, Roan P, Cheng L, Glozman D, Ma J, Niakosari S, White LW. IEEE Transactions of Biomedical Engineering. 2013.
• Content and Construct Validation of Robotic Surgery Curriculum Using an Electromagnetic Instrument Tracker. Tausch TJ, Kowalewski TM, White LW, McDonough PS, Brand TC, Lendvay TS. Journal of Urology. 2012.
• Surgical Simulation Devices. Lendvay TS, White LW. Medscape eMedicine. 2012.
• Visualizing Surgical Training Databases: Exploratory Visualization, Data Modeling, and Formative Feedback for Improving Skill Acquisition. Schroeder D, Kowalewski TM, White LW, Carlis J, Santos E, Sweet R, Lendvay TS, Reihsen T, Keefe DF. Computer Graphics and Animation. 2012.
• SurgTrak: Synchronized Performance Data Capture for the da Vinci Surgical Robot. White LW, Kowalewski TM, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics. 2012.
• Finding a Feature on a 3D Object Through Single-Digit Haptic Exploration. Huynh K, Stepp CE, White LW, Colgate JE, Matsuoka Y. Haptics Symposium. 2010.

ABTRACTS: POSTERS AND PRESENTATIONS

• Using Crowd-Assessment to Support Surgical Training in the Developing World. White LW, Wright A, Bekele A, Kotisso B, Tadesse A, Oelschlager B, Holst D, Borbely Y, S Oyetunji, Srivastava S, Lendvay TS. American College of Surgeons. 2014. Podium.
• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Surgical Skills in Cricothyrotomy Procedure. Aghdasi N, Bly R, White LW, Hannaford B, Moe K, Lendvay TS. Global Humanitarian Technology Conference. 2014. Poster.
• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills (C-SATS): Fast, Economical and Accurate Assessment of Robotic Surgery. White LW, Kowalewski TM, Brand T, Harper J, Comstock B, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. American Urological Association. 2014. Podium.
• The Da Vinci Robot Training Dilemma: Evaluating the Raven Robot as a Solution. Glassman D, White LW, Lewis A, King H, Clarke A, Glassman T, Comstock B, Hannaford B, Brand T, Lendvay TS. American Urological Association. 2014. Poster.
• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills (C-SATS): An Adjunct to Urology Resident Simulation Training. Holst D, White LW, Brand T, Harper J, Lendvay TS. American Urological Association. 2014. Poster.
• Using Crowd-Assessment to Support Surgical Training in the Developing World. White LW, Wright A, Bekele A, Kotisso B, Tadesse A, Oelschlager B, Holst D, Borbely Y, Lendvay TS. Engineering and Urology Society. 2014. Poster.
• Differentiating Surgical Skill through the Wisdom of Crowds. Lendvay TS, Holst D, White LW, Kowalewski TM, Brand T, Sorensen M, Harper J, Truong M, Simpson K, Smith R. Engineering and Urology Society. 2014. Poster.
• Validation of a Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills (C-SATS) with Application to Measuring Warm-Up Benefit in Robotic Surgery. White LW, Kowalewski TM, Brand T, Harper J, Comstock B, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. NextMed 21: Medicine Meets Virtual Reality. 2014. Podium.
• Raven Surgical Robot Training in Preparation for da Vinci Use: a Randomized Prospective Trial. Glassman D, White L, Lewis A, King H, Clarke A, Glassman T, Comstock B, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. NextMed 21: Medicine Meets Virtual Reality. 2014. Podium.
• The da Vinci Robot Training Dilemma: Evaluating the Raven Robot as a Solution. Glassman D, White L, King H, Lewis A, Clarke A, Glassman T, Comstock B, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. American Urological Association. 2014. Poster.
• Cricothyrotomy Simulator with Computational Skill Assessment for Procedural Skill Training in the Developing World. White LW, Bly RA, D’Auria D, Aghdasi N, Bartell P, Cheng L, Hannaford B. American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. 2013. Podium.
• Cricothyrotomy Simulator Training for the Developing World. White LW, D’Auria D, Bly R, Bartell P, Aghdasi N, Jones C, Hannaford B. Global Humanitarian Technology Conference. 2013. Poster.
• Validation of a Simulation Tool to Support Robotic-Assisted Surgical Training. White LW, White JK, Skinner A, Whitehurst S, Fielding A, Lockrow E, Lendvay TS, Buller J. Engineering and Urology Society. 2013. Poster.
• Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skill (C-SATS): Faculty Experts vs. Amazon.com Mechanical Turk Project vs. Facebook. Chen C, White LW, Comstock B, Kowalewski TM, Lendvay TS. NextMed 20: Medicine Meets Virtual Reality. 2012. Podium.
• Crowd-Sourcing Assessment of Technical Skills (C-SATS): Faculty Experts vs. Amazon.com Mechanical Turk Project vs. Facebook. Chen C, White LW, Kowalewski TM, Comstock B, Lendvay TS. Northwest Urological Society. 2012. Poster.
• How Much Force? A Possible Gap in Surgical Training. Kowalewski TM, White LW, Lendvay TS, Hannaford B. International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare. 2012. Poster.
• The Electronic Data Generation and Evaluation (EDGE) Platform. Kowalewski TM, White LW, Lendvay TS, Hannaford B. International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare. 2012. Poster.
• SurgTrak: Evolution of a Multi-Stream Surgical Performance Data Capture System for the da Vinci Surgical Robot. White LW, Kowalewski TM, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. Engineering and Urology Society. 2012. Poster. Award: 5th ranked abstract (out of 86).
• SurgTrak: Affordable Motion Tracking and Video Capture for the da Vinci Surgical Robot. White LW, Kowalewski T, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. 2011. Poster.
• Content and Construct Validation of a Robotic Surgery Curriculum. Tausch T, Kowalewski T, White LW, Brand T, Lendvay TS. American Urologic Association News. 2011. Article.
• Content and Construct Validation of Robotic Surgery Curriculum Using Electromagnetic Instrument Tracker. Tausch T, Kowalewski T, White LW, Brand T, Lendvay TS. American Urologic Association News. 2011. Poster. Award: Best of the AUA Moderated Poster Session MP48: Technology & Instruments: Surgical Education and Skills Assessment.
• Trakstar Tool Tip Tracker Validation. Tausch T, Kowalewski T, White LW, Brand T, Lendvay TS. James C. Kimbrough Urological Seminar for the Society of Government Service Urologists. 2011. Podium.
• Operating Room Integrated Tracking of Robotic Surgery. White LW, Hannaford B, Lendvay TS. University of Washington BioEngineering-Urology Summit. 2011. Podium.
• Integrated Entertainment and Communication System. Franca E, Kethman W, Weaver W, White LW. Houston Conference on Biomedical Engineering Research, Houston Society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology. 2008. Podium. Award: Best Prototype.

THESES & EXAMS

• White LW. Quantitative Objective Assessment of Preoperative Warm-up for Robotic Surgery. UW BioEngineering Final Exam. 2013 June. FinalExam.
• White LW. Quantitative Objective Assessment of Preoperative Warm-up for Robotic Surgery. UW BioEngineering General Exam. 2012 May;1:50. General Exam.
• White LW. Robotic cochlear implantation for hearing preservation. UW BioEngineering Qualifying Exam. 2010;1:30.
• White LW, Moore MJ. Development of a Multi-Scale Light Based Neurostimulator. In: Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Research and Design Conference. Department of BioMedical Engineering Tulane University. Department of BioMedical Engineering Tulane University; 2008.

PATENTS

• Thomas S Lendvay, Lee W. White, Timothy M. Kowalewski Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skill (C-SATS). US Provisional Patent; 61/943,008; 2014.
• Lee W. White, Timothy M. Kowalewski, Thomas S. Lendvay, Blake Hannaford, inventors. University of Washington, assignee. Motion and Video Capture for Tracking and Evaluating Robotic Surgery and Associated Systems and Methods. US Patent Application Number 13/434,585; 2012. Patent Pending.
• Lee W. White, Timothy M. Kowalewski, Blake Hannaford, Thomas S Lendvay. SurgTrak: Motion And Video Capture For Tracking And Evaluating Robotic Surgery. US Provisional Patent 61/556,110; 2011.
• Lee W. White, Timothy M. Kowalewski, Blake Hannaford, Thomas S Lendvay. SurgTrak: Motion And Video Capture For Tracking And Evaluating Robotic Surgery. US Provisional Patent 61/469,495; 2011.
• Blake Hannaford, Lee W. White. Medical Procedure Simulator for Medical Training in Low-Resource Environments. US Provisional Patent 61/562,960; 2011.
• Timothy M. Kowalewski; Blake Hannaford; Lee W. White; Thomas S. Lendvay. Surgenome: Web-enabled, computerized surgical skill evaluation, procedure tracking, analysis, and retrieval. UW Record of Innovation 45774; 2011.
• Lee W. White. Hand-held robotic surgery training instrument. UW Record of Innovation 45936; 2012.
• Timothy Kowalewski; Lee W White; Carolyn Chen; Thomas S Lendvay, assignees. Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skill (C-SATS). UW Record of Innovation 46173; 2012.

TALKS

• Crowd assessment for the developing world, Imperial College, London, UK, July, 2014
• Kathryn Kuckenbecker GRASP Lab, University of Pennsylvania, July, 2013
• Quantitative Objective Assessment of Preoperative Warm-up for Robotic Surgery
• Final Exam, June 2013
• General Exam, May 2012
• Qualifying Exam, October 2011
• Undergraduate Thesis Research Talk, May 2008

Projects

Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skill (C-SATS)

Fast and low-cost assessment of technical skill performance for technical surgical skills using a video of the performance and an anonymous crowd on the internet.

Cricothyrotomy simulator for the developing world

The Biorobotics Lab has developed a simulator for teaching the cricothyrotomy proecdure. The simulator connects to a computer or smart phone and records the time of contact between surgical tools and the neck model. The simulator is intended to be an ultra-low-cost yet sophisticated skill trainer aimed at airway management in the prehospital setting in developing countries.

SurgTRAK: robotic surgical tool tracking for the da Vinci surgical robot

Operating room compatible motion and video tracking for robotic surgical tools including the da Vinci surgical robot.

Flexible endoscope for the Raven surgical robot

Qatar University, supported by the Biorobotics Lab, has developed a flexible endoscope to augment the surgeon's view of the operative field.

EDGE: Electronic Data Generation for Evaluation

The Biorobotics Laboratory developed a system for tracking tool movements in laparoscopic surgery. Simulab Corporation of Seattle, WA licensed the technology to build EDGE. In 2011 the final product was released and is currently being used by trainin centers in the US an abroad.

Robotic tendon force transducer for brain-controlled robotic hands

In-line tendon tension measuring device for the anatomically correct testbed (ACT) hand.

Optical neurostimulator for developing controlled neuronal networks in culture

Touch-screen communication and entertainment device for disabled individuals

Media

Raven Robot featured in Ender's Game

From left: Hawkeye King, Gavin Hood, Harrison Ford, Joan Pranksi and Lee White on the set of Ender's Game.

• On November 1, 2013 the Raven surgical robot made its big screen debut in the film Ender's Game. Hawkeye King and I flew the robot to the set in New Orleans, LA to spend a week filming a pivotal scene and saving the life of Bonzo Madrid (played by Moises Arias).
• Media coverage:
• http://www.nbcnews.com/science/meet-real-life-robo-surgeon-who-stars-enders-game-8C11500771
• http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/11/01/uw-surgical-robot-featured-in-2013-movie-enders-game/

Contact

Email

Stanford: <firstname><lastname>[at]stanford[dot]edu

Stanford Community Academic Profiles

https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/lee-white

Facebook

facebook.com/LeeWhite

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/leewhite1

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