Evaluating effects of haptic feedback in Virtual Reality simulators for laparoscopic skill development

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) simulators are currently accepted as a good way of training of laparoscopic surgeries. Even with several commercially available VR simulators, trainees are still unable to obtain a proper psychomotor abilities and skills needed for MIS due to lack effectiveness in existing simulators. Realistic organ-force model is a key requirement of a VR simulator to experience real time interaction forces. This is critical in Minimally Invasive Surgeries (MIS) due to complex behavior of biological tissues and anatomical variability. We previously presented a novel method to integrate soft, firm and hard tissue properties into abdomen organ models by changing the stiffness properties of organ models. Our system was developed using the software libraries of Open Haptic Toolkit from SensAble Technology incorporated with the graphic libraries in Open GL and a Phantom Omni Haptic device with 6 Degrees of Freedom (DoF) position sensing and 3 DoF of force feedback. The simulated haptic models were evaluated with experienced surgeons in the field. They were also used to evaluate the effectiveness of force feedback for laparoscopic surgical skill development for surgical interns. In this paper, we present experimental results obtained from experts and trainee surgeons.