Journal
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SYSTEMS
Volume 36, Issue 3, Pages 1781-1793Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10916-010-9638-1
Keywords
Suturing simulation; Medical training; Virtual reality; Physics engine
Funding
- Research Grants Council of the HKSAR [PolyU 5152/09E]
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University [1-ZV2U, 1-ZV6C, G-U509]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Development of virtual-reality medical applications is usually a complicated and labour intensive task. This paper explores the feasibility of using commodity physics engine to develop a suturing simulator prototype for manual skills training in the fields of nursing and medicine, so as to enjoy the benefits of rapid development and hardware-accelerated computation. In the prototype, spring-connected boxes of finite dimension are used to simulate soft tissues, whereas needle and thread are modelled with chained segments. Spherical joints are used to simulate suture's flexibility and to facilitate thread cutting. An algorithm is developed to simulate needle insertion and thread advancement through the tissue. Two-handed manipulations and force feedback are enabled with two haptic devices. Experiments on the closure of a wound show that the prototype is able to simulate suturing procedures at interactive rates. The simulator is also used to study a curvature-adaptive suture modelling technique. Issues and limitations of the proposed approach and future development are discussed.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available