Designing the User Interface of a Virtual Needle Insertion Trainer

International audienceIn interventional radiology, inserting a needle to perform a biopsy requires a high haptic sensitivity. The traditional learning methods based on observation of skilled clinicians and training on real patients are questionable. Virtual Reality (VR) surgical simulators have previously been shown to be efficient for training. However, there is a lack of guidelines to ensure the fidelity of these simulators. In this paper, an iterative design approach is used to design and evaluate the user interface for a VR needle insertion trainer. Two experimental studies were conducted to evaluate some aspects of the system user interface. Results permit to validate some design choices and suggest future design directions to improve the interface and environment fidelity of the system

The Effects of Force Feedback on Surgical Task Performance: A Meta-Analytical Integration

Since the introduction of surgical robots into clinical practice, there has been a lively debate about the potential benefits and the need to implement haptic feedback for the surgeon. In the current article, a quantitative review of empirical findings from 21 studies (N = 332 subjects) is provided. Using meta-analytical methods, we found moderate effects on task accuracy (g = .61), large effect sizes of additional force feedback on average forces (g = .82) and peak forces (g = 1.09) and no effect on task completion times (g = -.05) when performing surgical tasks. Moreover, the magnitude of the force feedback effect was attenuated when visual depth information was available