Novel application of geometric morphometrics to cardiac surgical simulation

Abstract There may exist inter-/intra-surgeon variability in the shape and size of patches developed during intracardiac rerouting procedures, especially among junior surgeons. In this report, geometric morphometrics, approaches of shape analysis developed in biology, is applied to analyze patch shapes created by surgeons through surgical simulation for an intraatrial rerouting procedure. Geometric morphometrics can be a useful armamentarium in pediatric cardiac surgery in which shape matters.