Parameter evaluation for virtual Laparoscopic simulation

Abstract

Virtual Reality based surgical simulators have become quite common for training of surgeons for different surgical skills. Simulators have been widely used particularly in minimal invasive surgery. In this paper we find parameters that would be required to create a real time working simulation for exercises given in the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery curriculum. We use peg transfer exercise as our example in this work and create simulations for parameter analysis using SOFA, an open source surgical framework [1]. The parameters we choose are generic and can be used to create other more complex simulations like cholecystectomy [2] (gall bladder removal) and appendectomy (appendix removal). We show the implementation of these parameters and their behavior in a virtual reality surgical simulation. This work can be used by researchers and developers to choose the right parameters in the context of the simulation they are developing. It also shows the cost and behavior of achieving good visualization (frames per second), physical characteristics and a realistic behavioral model to be used in simulations for training purposes.