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

从生物力学的角度来看，脊柱手术是最困难的手术之一，因为脊柱的机械系统非常复杂。生物力学、计算机模拟技术和有限元法（FEM）模型的最新进展使研究人员能够对脊柱手术所需的力获得新的有价值的见解。此外，生物力学FEM模拟已经朝着使物理驱动的FEM用于复杂手术的虚拟现实（VR）手术培训变得可行的方向发展。新的外科手术是由医疗器械公司不断推出的最新技术。最近，单节段腰椎间盘切除术和融合术，一种经常进行的脊柱手术，已经通过微创工具和技术进行了更新。这种新方法的好处是相当便宜，需要更少的病人恢复时间。然而，在外科医生获得高水平的舒适度并有足够的信心独立练习之前，这种新的手术也需要密集的培训。** 这个新颖和创新的项目将研究，开发和实验评估物理驱动的FEM VR培训计划，包括图形和触觉反馈，用于这种新的和改进的手术方法。该项目将由麦吉尔大学的Drivel教授领导，他在学术界和领先的工业合作伙伴中开发了10年的脊柱外科FEM项目，同时领导了大型临床医生和工程师团队。该项目还拥有两个世界级的工业合作伙伴。CAE Healthcare Inc.，是培训平台商业化的世界领导者，并将贡献他们的内部VR FEM专家团队与团队合作。Depuy Synthes Inc.，约翰逊和约翰逊医疗的，是一个世界领先的开发和销售的脊柱医疗设备，并将贡献其团队的工程师，经理和临床医生的专业知识。该项目将在工业环境中为HQP提供实践培训，并在自然科学和工程部门创造新的就业机会，HQP将具有竞争力。

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.********