Engineering design of a virtual reality simulator for gynaecological endoscopy

Endoscopic surgeons have identified the need for a system that enables them to practice a range of complex 3D surgical procedures that involve the use of a video endoscopic instrument system. Physical simulators have been developed to enable the evaluation of skills required in endoscopic surgery and a VR surgical simulator is being developed that incorporates the ability of virtual instruments to interact with virtual anatomical structures, and for the operator to feel virtual anatomy as it resists movement. The emphasis of this work is to use available graphics tools to visually represent the anatomy, to represent instrument/anatomy interactions in a visually convincing way, and to represent instrument resistance to movement in a tactile sensory convincing way.