Training System for Endoscopic Surgery by Using Augmented Reality and Forceps Control Devices

Endoscopic surgery is one of minimally invasive medical treatments, which reduces both physical and mental burdens of a patient than conventional abdominal operations. At present, a variety of training environments for endoscopic surgery, such as a dry box, a virtual reality (VR) simulator, and an animal experiment have been prepared to cultivate certifying physicians of endoscopic surgery. Even now, more effective training environments have been requested from the surgeons. Thus, this study proposes an application of augmented reality to establish a novel training environment of endoscopic surgery. We focused on one of Japanese learning styles in writing, in which children repeatedly trace the letters written on a sheet in order to learn how to use a pencil to write neatly without concerning the meanings of the letters. This study applies this learning style to our training system by using a dry box and augmented reality (AR). In our training system, AR Toolkit is utilized to describe a target trajectory which is displayed on a monitor and is refereed by a trainee. And we originally develops the devices which detect the motions of endoscopic forceps while training. This paper introduces the basic constitution of our training system and discusses about the training effects obtained from the experimental results with beginner subjects.