SIU Surgical Education Video Corpus

The data collected in the Deixis Project is stored in a permanent repository known as the Southern Illinois University Surgical Education Video Corpus.  Our intent is to maintain this corpus in perpetuity, not only for research by the Deixis Project team, but also as a resource for other researchers as well.  The development of shared video corpora has some similarities to the development of a tissue bank, at least with respect to the issue of subjects' informed consent for participation.  In a tissue banking project, subjects are asked to provide consent at the time that specimens are collected even though the actual uses to which the specimens will be placed may not be known.  In fact, there may be a considerable delay until the specimens are actually used. After such a period, seeking confirmation of consent from all subjects is generally not practical.  But, without re-consent, how can the researcher ensure that the subjects' rights and wishes are honored?  The same problem arises in constructing a video corpus.  Recordings are made and stored away for future study.   In some cases, years may pass before the recordings are analyzed.  Some corpora used in linguistics have been preserved and used for decades.  In such cases, not only might it be impossible to re-consent the subjects, the researchers who originally gathered the data may no longer be available to supervise its use.  If the nature of the research is underspecified at the time of acquisition and it is infeasible to re-consent the subjects at the time the materials are used, how does one ensure that the subjects' rights will be protected?

In tissue banking projects, one approach that has been taken to resolve this conundrum has been to implement a 2-stage protocol structure.  A collection protocol is developed for collecting tissues and obtaining informed consent.  The projected use of the requested tissue samples is explained within the consent form as clearly and as specifically as possible at the time of collection.  The collection protocol and associated consent forms are reviewed by the local Institutional Review Board (IRB) for compliance with all applicable policies regarding research involving human subjects.  IRB approval of this protocol enables researchers to enroll subjects and collect specimens for the tissue bank.  When some party wishes to undertake research on some or all of the specimens in the tissue bank, they must first submit a use protocol for review by the local IRB.  No additional consent or authorization would be required from research subjects, but the IRB must certify that the proposed use is consistent with the original consent agreement.   An analogous arrangement for consent and oversight in the development of a video-based educational corpus, has been put in place for the SIU Surgical Education Video Corpus.  By this arrangement, access to the materials in the data corpus can be readily extended to researchers outside of the Deixis Project. 

The responsible IRB in this case is the Springfield Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects (SCRIHS).  A collection protocol for the SIU Surgical Education Video Corpus was developed and approved in 2005 (Protocol #04-184).  The protocol provides different consent forms for patients and participants (i.e., attendings surgeons, residents, medical students, staff). Patients are also required to sign a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) release along with the informed consent.  The only protected patient information retained in this project is the name of the patient (recorded on the consent form). The names of all patients and participants will be kept strictly confidential.

A use protocol (Protocol #06-018) was also developed to permit the recordings in the Video Corpus to be studied within the Deixis Project.  Other researchers interested in studying these materials should contact the corpus curator.  To obtain permission to use these materials, other researchers must develop their own use protocols which must be approved by SCRIHS.  A signed use agreement must be included as an addendum to the use protocol.