This study presents a haptic simulator for learning palpation of aorta in cardiovascular surgery and performs quantitative evaluation in educational use through some user study. The simulator implements physics-based methods that enable VR simulation of soft organs with autonomous motion like a beating heart or an aorta. The developed model simulates real-time deformation and force feedback during surgical palpation based on finite element methods. The evaluation with cardiovascular surgeons and medical students confirms the developed system is useful for learning not only surgical procedures but also stiffness of in-vivo organs.
['Megumi Nakao', 'Tomohiro Kuroda', 'Masaru Komori', 'Hiroshi Oyama']
Evaluation and User Study of Haptic Simulator for Learning Palpation in Cardiovascular Surgery