Real‐time suturing simulation for virtual reality medical training

Abstract

At present, virtual reality (VR)-based medical simulators provide an efficient and cost-effective alternative without exposing risk to the traditional training approaches. As an essential and indispensable task in fundamental surgical skills training, the research of suturing simulation still remains insufficient in the field of virtual surgery. In this paper, we present a real-time suturing simulation framework which can handle the complex interactions between surgical instruments and soft tissue. The simulation consists of two stages: external interaction and internal coupling. External interaction involves the interplay between needle/suture and the soft tissue, which are both deformed by position-based dynamics (PBD) with different constraints. At the internal coupling stage, once the force exceeds a threshold, the needle tip will puncture and penetrate into the soft tissue and generate a path. To guarantee the needle/suture accurately following the path inside the soft tissue, we propose a novel coupling method by matching and generating the constraints among needle, suture, and penetration path. We have applied this suturing simulation into a VR laparoscopic surgery simulator with haptic force. Our experimental results demonstrate that our approach can achieve real-time performance with a high degree of visual realism and haptic fidelity.

Immersive haptic simulation for training nurses in emergency medical procedures

“…It has been used in teaching both theory and skills of RPC procedure [2,6], highlighting its high effectiveness in teaching and practicing this procedure [1]. Virtual reality training has also been compared with classic training scenarios for other procedures [9], even in combination with basic haptic devices [27]. VR can improve nursing staff competencies [11] and can deliver as stressful environments as the reality [18], making it ideal for use in the training of the needle decompression procedure that usually has to be performed in this type of environments.…”

Uniform gradient magnetic field and spatial localization method based on Maxwell coils for virtual surgery simulation

“…Surgical simulation offers doctors an low‐risk training method, allowing them to simulate procedures such as suturing open incisions, 1 transplanting stents, and performing vascular imaging 2 in a simulated environment.…”