Low cost eye surgery simulator with skill assessment component.

Ophthalmic surgeons require years of training and continuous practice to successfully manipulate the delicate tissues of the human eye. Development of the fine motor skills is a crucial component of this training. Virtual eye surgery simulators have come on the market in recent years leveraging the advantages of virtual procedures. However adoption is limited by the high initial investment and availability of models. Our approach consists of a low cost hybrid approach that employs a standard porcine model for cataract training and a platform that is instrumented to record interaction forces and video. In a preliminary study we have recorded procedure data for a small number of experts which shows good signal-to-noise ratio suitable for development of objective skill assessment models.