Real-Time Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Simulation Using a Particle-Based Physical System

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is used to treat cholecystitis and cholelithiasis. Because the high risk of the surgery prevents novice doctors from practicing it on real patients, VR-based surgical simulation has been developed to simulate surgical procedures to train surgeons without patients, cadavers, or animals. In this study, we propose a real-time system designed to provide plausible visual and tactile simulation of the main surgical procedures. To achieve this, the physical properties of organs are modeled by particles, and cluster-based shape matching is used to simulate soft deformation. The haptic interaction between tools and soft tissue is modeled as a collision between a capsule and particles. Constraint-based haptic rendering is used to generate feedback force and the non-penetrating position of the virtual tool. The proposed system can simulate the major steps of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, such as the anatomy of Calot's triangle, clipping of the cystic duct and biliary artery, disjunction of the cystic duct and biliary artery, and separation of the gallbladder bed. The experimental results show that haptic rendering can be performed at a high frequency (> 900 Hz), whereas mesh skinning and graphics rendering can be performed at 60 frames per second (fps).