Design and evaluation of an augmented reality simulator using leap motion

Area of Science:

• Medical simulation
• Augmented reality in surgery
• Neurosurgical training

Background:

• Virtual and augmented reality (AR) offer advancements in medical training, particularly for surgical simulation.
• Improved surgical simulators provide enhanced training and evaluation methods for medical students and residents.
• Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is a common procedure requiring specialized resident training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an affordable and accessible AR-based simulator for ETV procedures.
• To compare the usability and training effectiveness of the new ETV simulator against the existing NeuroTouch system.
• To evaluate objective performance metrics (speed and accuracy) for both novice and expert neurosurgeons using the simulators.

Main Methods:

• Developed an AR ETV simulator using Unity, Vuforia, and Leap Motion (LM).
• Recruited 16 novices and 2 expert neurosurgeons for the study.
• Participants completed 40 targeting tasks using either the NeuroTouch tool or the LM-controlled virtual hand.

Main Results:

• Task completion time and trajectory log files were recorded for performance analysis.
• Compared the speed and accuracy of novices and experts between the two simulator systems.
• Data analysis focused on objective performance in terms of targeting accuracy for each system.

Conclusions:

• The developed AR ETV simulator demonstrates comparable training effectiveness to the NeuroTouch system.
• The affordable and accessible AR simulator provides a viable alternative for neurosurgical training.
• Objective performance metrics can effectively evaluate the training capabilities of surgical simulators.