Development of a virtual reality based microsurgery trainer

Abstract

The current system for training microsurgery requires significant preparation time, and is relatively expensive. A virtual reality (VR) based training system was proposed as an alternative/complementary tool to teach the various dexterity primitives required for microsurgery. The virtual reality based training system uses a Reachin Display where the Phantom(tm) Desktop was integrated with a modified needleholder. A physics engine, in a form of a C++ static library was developed to simulate the dynamic behaviors and interactions between various virtual objects, such as sutures, needles and needleholder. A series of tutorial modules to train the subtask of grasping and inserting a micro-needle was also developed using the above mentioned static library. A trial run was conducted with 3 subjects to validate the operation of the system.