A simple master-slave control mapping setup to learn robot-assisted surgery manipulation.

A simple, but yet effective application for learning and testing instrument manipulation of available (and future) master-slave control robot-assisted surgical systems has been created. As an example, the paper describes a simple mapping of da Vinci surgical system master-slave control with two haptic devices acts as the master control.

Simplified Cosserat rod for interactive suture modeling.

This paper presents a real-time simulation of a virtual surgical suture, which is a physically-based model adapted from the Cosserat theory of elastic rods. The focus is on achieving a physically plausible simulation of the suture that can be simulated in real time. With simulation parameters adjustment, the virtual surgical suture can be accustomed to exhibit bending and twisting similar to a real suture.

A simulation framework for wound closure by suture for the endo stitch suturing instrument.

Our simulation framework for wound closure by suture is designed for education and training purposes. Currently, it is designed specifically to support a simulation of the Endo Stitch suturing instrument by Covidien, and could be extended for other surgical instruments designed for intracorporeal suturing. The framework allows the user to perform a virtual wound closure by suture with real surgical instrument handles customized to fit on haptic devices.

Development and initial validation of a virtual reality haptically augmented surgical knot-tying trainer for the Autosuture ENDOSTITCH instrument.

The Autosuture Endostitch device (Covidien, CT) is difficult to learn. In particular, the handle requires the use of a toggle which is unique in this instrument. We have developed a virtual reality trainer for the device that offers the use of the actual instrument handle while creating a visible virtual instrument tip complete with virtual needle and suture on a monitor.

Fatty tissue in a haptic illustration environment.

Modeling soft tissue for surgery simulation is a challenging task due to the complex way that the tissue can deform and interact with virtual surgical tools manipulated by user. One soft tissue that is ubiquitous but often not modeled, is fatty tissue. Here we present a novel fatty tissue model based on the mass-spring system on the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) as part of our Toolkit for Illustration of Procedures in Surgery (TIPS).

Simulation for training with the Autosuture Endo Stitch device.

The rapid development and deployment of novel laparoscopic instruments present the surgical educator and trainee with a significant challenge. Several useful instruments have been particularly difficult to teach the novice. We have developed a platform that allows the combination of the actual instrument handle with a virtual re-creation of the instrument tip.

Exploiting graphics hardware for haptic authoring.

Real-time, plausible visual and haptic feedback of deformable objects without shape artifacts is important in surgical simulation environments to avoid distracting the user. We propose to leverage highly parallel stream processing, available on the newest generation graphics cards, to increase the level of both visual and haptic fidelity. We implemented this as part of the University of Florida's haptic surgical authoring kit.