Medical Simulation and Training: "Haptic" Liver

TL;DR

This paper presents a cost-effective visuo-haptic simulator for liver tissue to enhance surgical training, aiming to improve skill acquisition and safety in minimally invasive surgery.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, affordable haptic-based simulator specifically designed for liver tissue, advancing medical simulation technology for surgical education.

Findings

Enhanced tactile perception training for surgeons

Potential reduction in learning curve and risks

Improved practice-based surgical education

Abstract

Tactile perception plays an important role in medical simulation and training, specifically in surgery. The surgeon must feel organic tissue hardness, evaluate anatomical structures, measure tissue properties, and apply appropriate force control actions for safe tissue manipulation. Development of novel cost effective haptic-based simulators and their introduction in the minimally invasive surgery learning cycle can absorb the learning curve for residents. Receiving pre-training in a core set of surgical skills can reduce skill acquisition time and risks. We present the development of a cost-effective visuo-haptic simulator for the liver tissue, designed to improve practice-based education in minimally invasive surgery. Such systems can positively affect the next generations of learners by enhancing their knowledge in connection with real-life situations while they train in mandatory safe conditions.