HIPS - A Surgical Virtual Reality Training System for Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) with Realistic Force Feedback.

Virtual reality training simulations to acquire surgical skills are important for increasing patient safety and save valuable resources, e.g., cadavers, supervision and operating room time.

Perceived realism of haptic rendering methods for bimanual high force tasks: original and replication study.

Realistic haptic feedback is a key for virtual reality applications in order to transition from solely procedural training to motor-skill training. Currently, haptic feedback is mostly used in low-force medical procedures in dentistry, laparoscopy, arthroscopy and alike. However, joint replacement procedures at hip, knee or shoulder, require the simulation of high-forces in order to enable motor-skill training.

[Presentation and evaluation of the haptic-visual ear surgery training system "HaptiVisT"].

Background: Operations on the temporal bone are a special challenge for ENT surgeons. The aim of the BMBF-funded project was to develop a realistic training system for ear operations in the form of a "serious game".

Methods: The presented prototype of the HaptiVisT system functions as a training system for ear surgeries with visual feedback through a glasses-free 3D monitor and feedback by means of a haptic arm simulating the drill.

Force-feedback assisted and virtual fixtures based K-wire drilling simulation.

One common method to fix fractures of the human hand after an accident is an osteosynthesis with Kirschner wires (K-wires) to stabilize the bone fragments. The insertion of K-wires is a delicate minimally invasive surgery, because surgeons operate almost without a sight. Since realistic training methods are time consuming, costly and insufficient, a virtual-reality (VR) based training system for the placement of K-wires was developed.