How to Use the HAM Platform

Complete training guide: from bottle preparation to AI-powered assessment

6 Stepsfrom setup to results

Before you start

Make sure you have all the equipment from our Setup Guide. You'll need your TD Box, electrosurgical generator, snare, gastroscope, and video capture chain connected.

A

Bottle Preparation

The Dopper bottle is modified to create a suction chamber that connects to your endoscopy unit's standard suction system.

1

Cut the bottle

Cut the Dopper bottle at the marked line to create an open chamber for suction

2

Connect suction tubing

Attach standard endoscopy suction tubing to the cut bottle opening

3

Connect to suction source

Connect the other end to your endoscopy unit's standard suction system

Instructional Video

Coming soon — bottle construction demonstration

B

HAM Preparation

1

Position the ham

Place a single piece of cooked ham in the TD Box, sitting on the electrosurgical return plate. The return plate must make good contact with the ham for the electrosurgical circuit to work.

2

Keep the ham moist

Apply wet gauze around the ham. A dry ham conducts electricity poorly and will affect your results. Re-moisten between shapes if needed.

3

Apply the stencil

Soak the 3D-printed stencil face-down in the blue ink pad until fully covered. Then press it firmly and evenly onto the ham surface. Apply even pressure for full ink transfer.

Tip: Press evenly across the entire stencil — incomplete ink transfer creates ambiguous marks that are harder to follow.
4

Understand the shapes

The stencil contains 5 shapes of increasing complexity:

S0
Practice
S1
Basic
S2
Moderate
S3
Complex
S4
Advanced

S0 is for practice only and is not scored. S1–S4 are used for assessment.

C

Electrosurgical Setup & Technique

Generator Settings

Mode
Soft Coagulation
Effect
TBC
Watts
TBC

Exact effect and wattage settings are being confirmed and will be updated here. These settings apply to any brand of generator (Erbe, BOWA, Valleylab).

The Core Technique: Snare Tip Soft Coagulation (STSC)

Using the snare tip, deliver soft coagulation hits sequentially along the stencil line. This is the fundamental technique being assessed — precise tip control while applying electrosurgical energy.

Correct hit

Visible white mark directly on the stencil line — this means your tip control is accurate

Incorrect hit

White mark off the stencil line — indicates the snare tip deviated from the target

Technique Tips

Work sequentially — apply energy along the shape following the stencil marks in one continuous direction

5 minutes maximum per shape — a timer is used during formal assessment

Clean your snare with gauze and water between shapes

D

Assessment Workflow

Follow these steps on ham-rater.gieqs.com to record and analyse your assessment:

1

Go to ham-rater.gieqs.com

Open the platform in your web browser on the laptop connected to your video capture chain

2

Log in with your GIEQs account

Use your existing GIEQs credentials or create a new account

3

Press "New Assessment"

Start a new assessment session from the dashboard

4

Select the shape you want to do

Choose from S1, S2, S3, or S4 (use S0 for practice first if you're new)

5

Press Start and perform the tracing

The platform will capture your endoscopy video feed as you trace the shape with the snare

6

Complete all 4 shapes in one session

For a full assessment, complete S1 through S4 sequentially in a single sitting

7

AI analysis generates automatically

Once you finish, the AI analyses your video for speed, stability, and accuracy metrics

8

Review your results

Check the History tab for detailed metrics and the Visualizations section for charts and comparisons

E

Do's and Don'ts

Do

Cut in one continuous direction
Maintain consistent snare pressure
Follow the stencil line precisely
Complete all shapes in one sitting
Clean snare between shapes (gauze + water)
Keep ham moist with wet gauze

Don't

Don't drag the snare back and forth
Don't saw through the ham
Don't skip shapes in a session
Don't rush between shapes
Don't reuse a dirty snare tip
Don't let the ham dry out
F

Interpreting Your Results

AI Metrics Explained

Speed

How quickly you trace the shape (mm/s). Faster is generally better but must be balanced with accuracy.

Stability

How steady your tip control is during intentional movement. Higher stability means more controlled movements.

Performance Index

Combined percentile score from speed and stability, benchmarked against the HAM-2 reference population.

Understanding Your Benchmarks

Your results are compared against published HAM-2 study data across experience levels:

Trainee
Fellow
Expert

For detailed research findings, see the Research page.

See the HAM Assessment in Action

Ready to Get Started?

Make sure you have all the equipment you need