A 5 dof haptic interface for pre-operative planning of surgical access in hip arthroplasty

The sense of touch is crucial for medical training. Generic haptic devices such as the Impulse engine and the PHANToM device have been used in various medical simulations particularly in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) applications. Each of these instruments forms a useful first step in providing haptic feedback for surgical simulation but mostly their facilities are currently limited to MIS. In this paper we present the application of a desktop haptic interface in the pre-operative planning of the open surgery procedure for total hip replacement (THR) with particular focus on the planning of the incision position and size required to gain the access to the hip joint.