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Development of the VBLaST: a virtual basic laparoscopic skill trainer
Anderson Maciel1, Youquan Liu, Woojin Ahn
1Department of Applied Computation, Institute of Informatics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. amaciel@inf.ufrgs.br
Background:
The FLS training tool box has now been adopted by the Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) as an official training tool for minimally invasive procedures.
Methods:
To overcome the limitations of the physical FLS training tool box, we have developed a Virtual Basic Laparoscopic Skill Trainer (VBLaSTTM) system, which is a 3D simulator that will allow trainees to acquire basic laparoscopic skill.
Results:
The outcome of this work is the development of an integrated visio-haptic workstation environment including force feedback devices and a stereo display interface whereby trainees can practice on virtual versions of the FLS. Realistic graphical rendering and high fidelity haptic interactions are achieved.
Conclusions:
Surgical skill training is a long and tedious process of acquiring fine motor skills. It is expected that residents would start on trainers such as VBLaSTTM and after reaching a certain level of competence would progress to the more complex trainers for training on specific surgical procedures.
