Education & Science

Virtual Reality Laparoscopic Surgical Simulator

Product Description

This product is a low-cost solution for virtual reality laparoscopic training. The objective of this product is to provide the medical community an affordable low cost solution which they can use to train. Even though several simulators are available on the market with high standards and advanced technologies, their use is extremely limited due to the economic costs involved. But the laparoscopic surgery success greatly depends on surgeon skills and training because Laparoscopy is a surgical procedure on which operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions using several specialized instruments. This approach ensures that any surgical trainee or medical student can afford a virtual reality laparoscopy trainer to practice.  The system is easily upgradable and extensible that can provide a wide variety of surgeries and tasks to train with. The developed prototype consists of a set of inexpensive sensors and two webcams. Video image processing and microcontroller based interface have been used as the main technical aspects. The product is currently having basic tasks like cutting, grabbing and touching for the surgeons to train with.

Jurors’ Evaluation

The healthcare sector is one of the biggest adopters of virtual reality in particular as a means of training the next generation of medical professionals in a realistic but safe environment. This low cost solution provides medical students the opportunity to simulate a real life surgery experience, which enables them to fine-tune their skills and precision through repetitive practice. The extendibility of the solution to other areas of surgery adds value to the medical profession, where trainees are able to experiment on different options. Low cost involved in production can lead to higher levels of scalability and sustainability of the project as well since competitive offerings are costly and more traditional in nature.