Capturing differences in dental training using a virtual reality simulator

Virtual reality simulators are becoming increasingly popular in dental schools across the world. But to what extent do these systems reflect actual dental ability? Addressing this question of construct validity is a fundamental step that is necessary before these systems can be fully integrated into a dental school's curriculum. In this study, we examined the sensitivity of the Simodont (a haptic virtual reality dental simulator) to differences in dental training experience. Two hundred and eighty-nine participants, with 1 (n = 92), 3 (n = 79), 4 (n = 57) and 5 (n = 61) years of dental training, performed a series of tasks upon their first exposure to the simulator. We found statistically significant differences between novice (Year 1) and experienced dental trainees (operationalised as 3 or more years of training), but no differences between performance of experienced trainees with varying levels of experience. This work represents a crucial first step in understanding the value of haptic virtual reality simulators in dental education

Virtual and Augmented Reality in Medical Education

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are two contemporary simulation models that are currently upgrading medical education. VR provides a 3D and dynamic view of structures and the ability of the user to interact with them. The recent technological advances in haptics, display systems, and motion detection allow the user to have a realistic and interactive experience, enabling VR to be ideal for training in hands-on procedures. Consequently, surgical and other interventional procedures are the main fields of application of VR. AR provides the ability of projecting virtual information and structures over physical objects, thus enhancing or altering the real environment. The integration of AR applications in the understanding of anatomical structures and physiological mechanisms seems to be beneficial. Studies have tried to demonstrate the validity and educational effect of many VR and AR applications, in many different areas, employed via various hardware platforms. Some of them even propose a curriculum that integrates these methods. This chapter provides a brief history of VR and AR in medicine, as well as the principles and standards of their function. Finally, the studies that show the effect of the implementation of these methods in different fields of medical training are summarized and presented

Haptics: Science, Technology, Applications

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Human Haptic Sensing and Touch Enabled Computer Applications, EuroHaptics 2020, held in Leiden, The Netherlands, in September 2020. The 60 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 111 submissions. The were organized in topical sections on haptic science, haptic technology, and haptic applications. This year's focus is on accessibility

Haptic-Enhanced Learning in Preclinical Operative Dentistry

Background: Virtual reality haptic simulators represent a new paradigm in dental education that may potentially impact the rate and efficiency of basic skill acquisition, as well as pedagogically influence the various aspects of students’ preclinical experience. However, the evidence to support their efficiency and inform their implementation is still limited. Objectives: This thesis set out to empirically examine how haptic VR simulator (Simodont®) can enhance the preclinical dental education experience particularly in the context of operative dentistry. We specify 4 distinct research themes to explore, namely: simulator validity (face, content and predictive), human factors in 3D stereoscopic display, motor skill acquisition, and curriculum integration. Methods: Chapter 3 explores the face and content validity of Simodont® haptic dental simulator among a group of postgraduate dental students. Chapter 4 examines the predictive utility of Simodont® in predicting subsequent preclinical and clinical performance. The results indicate the potential utility of the simulator in predicting future clinical dental performance among undergraduate students. Chapter 5 investigates the role of stereopsis in dentistry from two different perspectives via two studies. Chapter 6 explores the effect of qualitatively different types of pedagogical feedback on the training, transfer and retention of basic manual dexterity dental skills. The results indicate that the acquisition and retention of basic dental motor skills in novice trainees is best optimised through a combination of instructor and visualdisplay VR-driven feedback. A pedagogical model for integration of haptic dental simulator into the dental curriculum has been proposed in Chapter 7. Conclusion: The findings from this thesis provide new insights into the utility of the haptic virtual reality simulator in undergraduate preclinical dental education. Haptic simulators have promising potential as a pedagogical tool in undergraduate dentistry that complements the existing simulation methods. Integration of haptic VR simulators into the dental curriculum has to be informed by sound pedagogical principles and mapped into specific learning objectives

Haptics: Science, Technology, Applications

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Human Haptic Sensing and Touch Enabled Computer Applications, EuroHaptics 2020, held in Leiden, The Netherlands, in September 2020. The 60 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 111 submissions. The were organized in topical sections on haptic science, haptic technology, and haptic applications. This year's focus is on accessibility

Objective assessment and feedback generation in dental surgical simulation : a framework based on correlating procedure and outcome

Fine motor skill is indispensable for a dentist. As in many other medical fields of study, the traditional surgical master-apprentice model is widely adopted in dental education. Recently, virtual reality (VR) simulators have been employed as supplementary components to the traditional skill-training curriculum, and numerous dental VR systems have been developed academically and commercially. However, the full promise of such systems has yet to be realized due to the lack of sufficient support for formative feedback. Without such a mechanism, evaluation still demands dedicated time of experts in scarce supply. With the aim to fill the gap of formative assessment using VR simulators in skill training in dentistry, this thesis presents a framework to objectively assess the surgical skill and generate formative feedback automatically. VR simulators enable collecting detailed data on relevant metrics throughout a procedure. Our approach to formative feedback is to correlate procedure metrics with the procedure outcome in order to identify the portions of a procedure that need to be improved. Prior to the correlation, the procedure outcome needs to be evaluated. The scoring algorithm designed in this thesis provides an overall score and identifies specific errors and their severity. Building upon this, we developed techniques to identify the portion of the procedure responsible for the errors. Specifically, for the errors in the outcome the responsible portions of the procedure are identified based on correlation of location of the error. For some types of feedback one mode may be more suitable than another. Tutoring formative feedback are provided using the video- and haptic- modalities. The effectiveness of the feedback systems have been evaluated with the dental students with randomized controlled trials and the findings show the feedback mechanisms to be effective and have potentials to use as valuable supplemental training resources

Electrotactile feedback applications for hand and arm interactions: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and future directions

Haptic feedback is critical in a broad range of human-machine/computer-interaction applications. However, the high cost and low portability/wearability of haptic devices remain unresolved issues, severely limiting the adoption of this otherwise promising technology. Electrotactile interfaces have the advantage of being more portable and wearable due to their reduced actuators' size, as well as their lower power consumption and manufacturing cost. The applications of electrotactile feedback have been explored in human-computer interaction and human-machine-interaction for facilitating hand-based interactions in applications such as prosthetics, virtual reality, robotic teleoperation, surface haptics, portable devices, and rehabilitation. This paper presents a technological overview of electrotactile feedback, as well a systematic review and meta-analysis of its applications for hand-based interactions. We discuss the different electrotactile systems according to the type of application. We also discuss over a quantitative congregation of the findings, to offer a high-level overview into the state-of-art and suggest future directions. Electrotactile feedback systems showed increased portability/wearability, and they were successful in rendering and/or augmenting most tactile sensations, eliciting perceptual processes, and improving performance in many scenarios. However, knowledge gaps (e.g., embodiment), technical (e.g., recurrent calibration, electrodes' durability) and methodological (e.g., sample size) drawbacks were detected, which should be addressed in future studies.Comment: 18 pages, 1 table, 8 figures, under review in Transactions on Haptics. This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible.Upon acceptance of the article by IEEE, the preprint article will be replaced with the accepted versio

Virtual Reality Simulator for Training in Myringotomy with Tube Placement

Myringotomy refers to a surgical incision in the eardrum, and it is often followed by ventilation tube placement to treat middle-ear infections. The procedure is difficult to learn; hence, the objectives of this work were to develop a virtual-reality training simulator, assess its face and content validity, and implement quantitative performance metrics and assess construct validity. A commercial digital gaming engine (Unity3D) was used to implement the simulator with support for 3D visualization of digital ear models and support for major surgical tasks. A haptic arm co-located with the stereo scene was used to manipulate virtual surgical tools and to provide force feedback. A questionnaire was developed with 14 face validity questions focusing on realism and 6 content validity questions focusing on training potential. Twelve participants from the Department of Otolaryngology were recruited for the study. Responses to 12 of the 14 face validity questions were positive. One concern was with contact modeling related to tube insertion into the eardrum, and the second was with movement of the blade and forceps. The former could be resolved by using a higher resolution digital model for the eardrum to improve contact localization. The latter could be resolved by using a higher fidelity haptic device. With regard to content validity, 64% of the responses were positive, 21% were neutral, and 15% were negative. In the final phase of this work, automated performance metrics were programmed and a construct validity study was conducted with 11 participants: 4 senior Otolaryngology consultants and 7 junior Otolaryngology residents. Each participant performed 10 procedures on the simulator and metrics were automatically collected. Senior Otolaryngologists took significantly less time to completion compared to junior residents. Junior residents had 2.8 times more errors as compared to experienced surgeons. The senior surgeons also had significantly longer incision lengths, more accurate incision angles, and lower magnification keeping both the umbo and annulus in view. All metrics were able to discriminate senior Otolaryngologists from junior residents with a significance of p \u3c 0.002. The simulator has sufficient realism, training potential and performance discrimination ability to warrant a more resource intensive skills transference study

Presence 2005: the eighth annual international workshop on presence, 21-23 September, 2005 University College London (Conference proceedings)

OVERVIEW (taken from the CALL FOR PAPERS) Academics and practitioners with an interest in the concept of (tele)presence are invited to submit their work for presentation at PRESENCE 2005 at University College London in London, England, September 21-23, 2005. The eighth in a series of highly successful international workshops, PRESENCE 2005 will provide an open discussion forum to share ideas regarding concepts and theories, measurement techniques, technology, and applications related to presence, the psychological state or subjective perception in which a person fails to accurately and completely acknowledge the role of technology in an experience, including the sense of 'being there' experienced by users of advanced media such as virtual reality. The concept of presence in virtual environments has been around for at least 15 years, and the earlier idea of telepresence at least since Minsky's seminal paper in 1980. Recently there has been a burst of funded research activity in this area for the first time with the European FET Presence Research initiative. What do we really know about presence and its determinants? How can presence be successfully delivered with today's technology? This conference invites papers that are based on empirical results from studies of presence and related issues and/or which contribute to the technology for the delivery of presence. Papers that make substantial advances in theoretical understanding of presence are also welcome. The interest is not solely in virtual environments but in mixed reality environments. Submissions will be reviewed more rigorously than in previous conferences. High quality papers are therefore sought which make substantial contributions to the field. Approximately 20 papers will be selected for two successive special issues for the journal Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. PRESENCE 2005 takes place in London and is hosted by University College London. The conference is organized by ISPR, the International Society for Presence Research and is supported by the European Commission's FET Presence Research Initiative through the Presencia and IST OMNIPRES projects and by University College London

Haptic Interface for the Simulation of Endovascular Interventions

Endovascular interventions are minimally invasive surgical procedures that are performed to diagnose and treat vascular diseases. These interventions use a combination of long and flexible instruments known as guidewire and catheter. A popular method of developing the skills required to manipulate the instruments successfully is through the use of virtual reality (VR) simulators. However, the interfaces of current VR simulators have several shortcomings due to limitations in the instrument tracking and haptic feedback systems design. A major challenge of developing physics-based training simulations of endovascular interventional procedures is to unobtrusively access the central, co-axial guidewire for tracking and haptics. This work sets out to explore the state of the art, to identify and develop novel solutions to this concentric occlusion problem, and to perform a validation of a proof of concept prototype. This multi port haptic interface prototype has been integrated with a 3-D virtual environment and features novel instrument tracking and haptic feedback actuation systems. The former involves the use of an optical sensor to detect guidewire movements through a clear catheter, whereas the latter utilises the placement of a customised electromagnetic actuator within the catheter hub. During the proof of concept validation process, both systems received positive reviews. Whilst the haptic interface prototype designed in this work has met the original objectives, there are still important aspects which need to be addressed to improve its content and face validity. With further development, the prototype has the potential to evolve and become a significant improvement over the haptic interfaces that exist today.Open Acces