Table 2.

Comparison between the novices and experts for the robotic suturing task. The Mann–Whitney U test was performed to determine any significant differences between the groups

	Novice (n = 20)	Intermediate (n = 20)	Z-value	p
Total time (s)
Trial 1	25.10	15.90	− 2.489	0.012
Trial 2	23.70	17.30	− 1.731	0.086
Trial 3	24.65	16.35	− 2.245	0.024
Trial 4	23.70	17.30	− 1.731	0.086
Trial 5	21.84	18.25	− 0.983	0.336
Trial 6	22.00	18.10	− 1.068	0.296
Maximum force (N)
Trial 1	21.25	19.75	− 0.406	0.698
Trial 2	20.10	20.90	− -0.216	0.841
Trial 3	17.85	23.15	− 1.434	0.157
Trial 4	21.60	19.40	− 0.595	0.565
Trial 5	17.84	22.05	− 1.152	0.258
Trial 6	18.58	21.35	− 0.759	0.461
Mean non-zero force (N)
Trial 1	21.53	19.48	− 0.555	0.583
Trial 2	19.23	21.78	− 0.690	0.495
Trial 3	17.55	23.45	− 1.596	0.114
Trial 4	20.58	20.43	− 0.041	0.968
Trial 5	17.16	21.84	− 1.299	0.201
Trial 6	17.95	21.05	− 0.861	0.402
Maximum impulse (Ns)
Trial 1	23.30	17.70	− -1.515	0.134
Trial 2	20.95	20.05	− 0.243	0.820
Trial 3	20.18	20.83	− 0.176	0.862
Trial 4	21.00	20.00	− 0.271	0.799
Trial 5	18.84	21.10	− 0.618	0.550
Trial 6	21.26	18.80	− 0.674	0.513
Force volume (N3)
Trial 1	22.20	18.80	− 0.920	0.369
Trial 2	20.08	20.93	− 0.230	0.820
Trial 3	18.20	22.80	− 1.244	0.202
Trial 4	20.53	20.48	− 0.014	0.989
Trial 5	17.84	22.05	− 1.152	0.258
Trial 6	19.13	20.83	− 0.464	0.647

Bold indicate an outcome with a p <0.05 was regarded as statistically significant