Force feedback for virtual reality based minimally invasive surgery simulator

This paper presents ongoing research towards an endoscopic surgery simulation system. Our specific application of interest is laparoscopic surgery. The goal is to conceive an endoscopic surgical training tool which allows to realistically simulate the interactions between one or several surgical instruments and the gastrointestinal organs in a virtual reality based environment. An artificial patient is being developed into which endoscopic surgical instruments can be inserted to operate upon virtual organs displayed on a video monitor. In order to achieve a faithful and precise simulation, not only a realistic graphical representation of the organic tissue and its behavior is needed, but also the forces and moments on the surgical instruments encountered during an operation are required to be simulated. The laparoscopic surgery simulator must therefore provide force feedback through the endoscopic instruments manipulated by the surgeon. This paper details the mechanical design of the force feedback mechanisms and addresses some of the technical challenges of this project.