An intelligent ophthalmic regional anesthesia training system based on capacitive sensing

Safe administration of regional anesthesia in the eye involves insertion of syringe needle into the intra-orbital space at the correct position and angle to avoid injury to ocular structures. A training manikin which emulates human ocular anatomy and provides feedback on the quality of anesthetic procedure would considerably help to reduce the risks involved in real life procedures. This paper presents an anatomically accurate training manikin that has been developed employing rapid prototyping techniques. The system detects and alarms the trainee when a needle is in close proximity of the ocular muscles to avoid injury. Additionally it also apprises the trainee on whether the muscles have been touched by the needle. Proximity of needle is detected by a capacitive sensing scheme. A Virtual Instrument developed measures output from capacitive sensing electrodes and presents it through an intuitive graphical user interface. The proposed touch and proximity detection schemes have been validated by tests performed on a prototype training manikin developed, thus demonstrating its use for practical purposes.