Instrumentation of a clinical colonoscope for surgical simulation.

This paper describes the instrumentation of a clinical colonoscope needed for a novel colonoscopy simulation framework. The simulator consists of a compact and portable haptic interface and a virtual reality environment to provide real-time visualization. The proposed instrumentation enables tracking different functions of the colonoscope while keeping the ergonomics unchanged.

Modelling anisotropic viscoelasticity for real-time soft tissue simulation.

Previously almost all biomechanically-based time-critical surgical simulation has ignored the well established features of tissue mechanical response of anisotropy and time-dependence. We address this issue by presenting an efficient solution procedure for anisotropic viscohyperelastic constitutive models which allows use of these in nonlinear explicit dynamic finite element algorithms. We show that the procedure allows incorporation of both anisotropy and viscoelasticity for as little as 5.

A modular simulation framework for colonoscopy using a new haptic device.

We have developed a multi-threaded framework for colonoscopy simulation utilising OpenGL with an interface to a real-time prototype colonoscopy haptic device. A modular framework has enabled us to support multiple haptic devices and efficiently integrate new research into physically based modelling of the colonoscope, colon and surrounding organs. The framework supports GPU accelerated algorithms as runtime modules, allowing the real-time calculations required for haptic feedback.