The development and evaluation of a novel surgical spine procedure into a physics driven virtual reality FEM training platform

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From a biomechanical perspective, spinal surgeries are one of the most difficult, because of the complexity and intricacy of the mechanical system of the spine. Recent advancements in biomechanics, computer simulation techniques, and finite element method (FEM) models have enabled researchers to gain new valuable insight into forces required for spine surgery. Moreover, biomechanical FEM simulation has progressed toward making physics-driven FEMs for virtual reality (VR) surgical training of complex procedures feasible.**New surgical procedures are routinely offered by medical device companies continuously pushing the state of the art. Recently, single segment lumbar discectomy and fusion, a frequently performed spine surgery, has been updated by minimally invasive tooling and techniques. This new procedure has the benefit of being considerably less expensive and requires much less patient recovery time. However, this new procedure also requires intensive training before surgeons gain a high level of comfort and are confident enough to practice independently. **This novel and innovative project will research, develop and experimentally evaluate a physics-driven FEM VR training program, inclusive of graphic and haptic feedback, for this new and improved surgical approach. This project will be led by Prof. Driscoll, McGill University, who has developed FEM programs of spine surgeries for 10 years both within academia and for leading industrial partners, while leading large teams of clinicians and engineers. The project also has two world class industrial partners. CAE Healthcare Inc., is a world leader in the commercialisation of training platforms and will contribute their in-house team of VR FEM experts to collaborate with the team. Depuy Synthes Inc., of Johnson and Johnson Medical, is a world leader in the development and sale of spine medical devices and will contribute the expertise of their team of engineers, managers and clinicians. This project will give HQPs hands-on training in an industrial setting, and create new jobs in the natural sciences and engineering sector for which the HQPs will be competitive.********