Virtual Reality Based Simulation of Hysteroscopic Interventions

Virtual reality based simulation is an appealing option to supplement traditional clinical education. However, the formal integration of training simulators into the medical curriculum is still lacking. Especially, the lack of a reasonable level of realism supposedly hinders the widespread use of this technology. Therefore, we try to tackle this situation with a reference surgical simulator of the highest possible fidelity for procedural training. This overview describes all elements that have been combined into our training system as well as first results of simulator validation. Our framework allows the rehearsal of several aspects of hysteroscopy—for instance, correct fluid management, handling of excessive bleeding, appropriate removal of intrauterine tumors, or the use of the surgical instrument

A LAYERED FRAMEWORK FOR SURGICAL SIMULATION DEVELOPMENT

The field of surgical simulation is still in its infancy, and a number of projects are attempting to take the next step towards becoming the de facto standard for surgical simulation development, an ambition shared by the framework described here. Dubbed AutoMan, this framework has four main goals: a) to provide a common interface to simulation subsystems, b) allow the replacement of these underlying technologies, c) encourage collaboration between independent research projects and, d) expand the on targeted user base of similar frameworks. AutoMan\u27s layered structure provides an abstraction from implementation details providing the common user interface. Being highly modular and built on SOFA, the framework is highly extensible allowing algorithms and modules to be replaced or modified easily. This extensibility encourages collaboration as newly developed modules can be incorporated allowing the framework itself to grow and evolve with the industry. Also, making the programming interface easy to use caters to casual developers who are likely to add functionality to the system

A Flexible Framework for Highly-Modular Surgical Simulation Systems

We present a modular software framework which is currently used for high-fidelity surgical simulation of hysteroscopic interventions