A Virtual Environment Training System for Haptic Laparoscopic Surgery

Work from the collaboration between Dr Fengda Zhao  (Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, P.R.China) and Dr Yinghui Zhang (Division of Computing, School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton, UK) is to be presented at  16th International Conference of Automation and Computing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, 11 September 2010.The work looks at developing a prototype haptics-based surgical training system


Most of the existing laparoscopic simulations which use simple objects are only for the purpose of the training of laparoscopic surgical skills. We have designed and developed an early prototype of a laparoscopic simulation system in which almost all of the soft tissue organs are modeled as deformable models which can be manipulated using a laparoscopic instrument with haptic feedback. Physics-based modeling is applied to realize collision detection, force rendering and elasticity deformation. A new mechanism to analyze and evaluate the injuries to the soft issues is introduced. Preliminary experimental results show that the simulator can meet the requirement of 1 kHz haptic loop update rate under complex virtual scene.


This collaboration was supported by a Leverhulme Fellowship .