Towards hand-eye coordination training in virtual knee arthroscopy

Minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery has replaced the common orthopaedic surgery procedures on joints. However it demands from surgeons to acquire very different motor-skills for using special miniature pencil-like instruments and cameras inserted through little incisions on the body while observing the surgical field on a video monitor. Training in virtual reality is becoming an alternative to traditional surgical training based on either real patients or increasingly difficult to procure cadavers. In this paper we propose solutions for simulation in virtual environments a few basic arthroscopic procedures including incision of the arthroscopic camera, positioning of the instrument in front of it, as well as using scissors and graspers. Our approach is based on both full 3D simulation and haptic interaction as well as image-based visualization and haptic interaction.