Some primitive surgical teaching devices, however, are starting to come into use. For example, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is sponsoring a trial in which researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and several other institutions compare training on a virtual-reality simulator with traditional training for arthroscopy of the knee.
Wired Science also describes a simulator for sinus surgery developed at Stanford University. The surgeon manipulates an endoscope through the nostril of a mannequin and a computer program shows the virtual procedure on a screen and calculates how much resistance should be applied, based on different parts of the sinus cavity.
Meanwhile, researchers at Ohio State University have been working on a device to simulate temporal bone surgery in the inner ear that would give users a feel of the resistance of different tissues and even the changing sounds of the drill.
Researchers say open surgeries, in contrast, will be more difficult to mimic with virtual reality because movements are in all directions and involve directly touching the patient.
Read Wired Science’s report on virtual surgery.
