Medical Simulation and Training: "Haptic" Liver

Tactile perception plays an important role in medical simulation and training, specifically in surgery. The surgeon must feel organic tissue hardness, evaluate anatomical structures, measure tissue properties, and apply appropriate force control actions for safe tissue manipulation. Development of novel cost effective haptic-based simulators and their introduction in the minimally invasive surgery learning cycle can absorb the learning curve for residents. Receiving pre-training in a core set of surgical skills can reduce skill acquisition time and risks. We present the development of a cost-effective visuo-haptic simulator for the liver tissue, designed to improve practice-based education in minimally invasive surgery. Such systems can positively affect the next generations of learners by enhancing their knowledge in connection with real-life situations while they train in mandatory safe conditions.