Fundamentals of force feedback and application to a surgery simulator.

Force feedback increases the effectiveness of virtual-reality surgery training systems. An overview of the fundamentals of applying force feedback is presented. An impedance control technique and data processing methods for stability preservation are illustrated.

A prospective randomized study to test the transfer of basic psychomotor skills from virtual reality to physical reality in a comparable training setting.

Objective: To test whether basic skills acquired on a virtual endoscopic surgery simulator are transferable from virtual reality to physical reality in a comparable training setting.

Summary Background Data: For surgical training in laparoscopic surgery, new training methods have to be developed that allow surgeons to first practice in a simulated setting before operating on real patients. A virtual endoscopic surgery trainer (VEST) has been developed within the framework of a joint project.