A high-fidelity haptic device for virtual ear surgery

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

MOTIVATION: Ear surgery is challenging because the internal structures of the ear are delicate and tiny. Currently, training in ear surgery is done using an apprenticeship approach in which the trainee observes a surgeon then practices the procedure on patients. This approach places patients at risk. As an alternative, we have developed a training simulator using virtual-reality (VR) technology. The simulator presents the trainee with a 3D digital model of the ear that can be operated upon. The trainee uses a "haptic" device to interact with the digital ear model. The device simultaneously allows the trainee to move a 3D digital surgical tool and feel interaction forces between the tool and the digital ear model. The forces encountered in ear surgery are tiny and a high-fidelity haptic device is needed to accurately represent them. Our current haptic device is not accurate.