Usefulness of Three-Dimensional Modeling in Surgical Planning, Resident Training, and Patient Education.

Background: Imaging has a critical impact on surgical decision making and three-dimensional (3D) digital models of patient pathology can now be made commercially. We developed a 3D digital model of a cancer of the head of the pancreas by integrating actual CT data with 3D modeling process. After this process, the virtual pancreatic model was also produced using a high-quality 3D printer.

Evaluation of Sensory and Motor Skills in Neurosurgery Applicants Using a Virtual Reality Neurosurgical Simulator: The Sensory-Motor Quotient.

Objective: Manual skill is an important attribute for any surgeon. Current methods to evaluate sensory-motor skills in neurosurgical residency applicants are limited. We aim to develop an objective multifaceted measure of sensory-motor skills using a virtual reality surgical simulator.

Usefulness of a Virtual Reality Percutaneous Trigeminal Rhizotomy Simulator in Neurosurgical Training.

Background: Simulation-based training may be incorporated into neurosurgery in the future.

Objective: To assess the usefulness of a novel haptics-based virtual reality percutaneous trigeminal rhizotomy simulator.

Methods: A real-time augmented reality simulator for percutaneous trigeminal rhizotomy was developed using the ImmersiveTouch platform.

The use of a virtual reality surgical simulator for cataract surgical skill assessment with 6 months of intervening operating room experience.

Purpose: To evaluate a haptic-based simulator, MicroVisTouch™, as an assessment tool for capsulorhexis performance in cataract surgery. The study is a prospective, unmasked, nonrandomized dual academic institution study conducted at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Medical Center (Baltimore, MD, USA) and King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).

Methods: This prospective study evaluated capsulorhexis simulator performance in 78 ophthalmology residents in the US and Saudi Arabia in the first round of testing and 40 residents in a second round for follow-up.

Neurosurgical tactile discrimination training with haptic-based virtual reality simulation.

Objective: To determine if a computer-based simulation with haptic technology can help surgical trainees improve tactile discrimination using surgical instruments.

Material And Methods: Twenty junior medical students participated in the study and were randomized into two groups. Subjects in Group A participated in virtual simulation training using the ImmersiveTouch simulator (ImmersiveTouch, Inc.

Virtual reality spine surgery simulation: an empirical study of its usefulness.

Objective: This study explores the usefulness of virtual simulation training for learning to place pedicle screws in the lumbar spine.

Methods: Twenty-six senior medical students anonymously participated and were randomized into two groups (A = no simulation; B = simulation). Both groups were given 15 minutes to place two pedicle screws in a sawbones model.

A novel virtual reality simulation for hemostasis in a brain surgical cavity: perceived utility for visuomotor skills in current and aspiring neurosurgery residents.

Objective: To understand the perceived utility of a novel simulator to improve operative skill, eye-hand coordination, and depth perception.

Methods: We used the ImmersiveTouch simulation platform (ImmersiveTouch, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) in two U.

Sensory and motor skill testing in neurosurgery applicants: a pilot study using a virtual reality haptic neurosurgical simulator.

Background: Manual skill is important for surgeons, but current methods to evaluate sensory-motor skills in applicants to a surgical residency are limited.

Objective: To develop a method of testing sensory-motor skill using objective and reproducible virtual reality simulation.

Methods: We designed a set of tests on a 3-dimensional surgical simulator with head and arm tracking, colocalization, and haptic feedback: (1) "trajectory planning in a simulated vertebra," ie, 3-dimensional memory and orientation; "hemostasis in the brain," ie, motor planning, sequence, timing, and precision; and "choose the softest object," ie, haptic perception.