Surgical simulator design and evaluation using game engine technology

Surgical training is increasingly being done using simulator technology in order to teach basic skills to residents without risking patients’ lives. However, neurosurgery lags behind other surgical specialties in the adoption of simulators. Since there are no commercial simulators in this domain, the National Research Council has embarked on a neurosurgery simulator development program, in collaboration with Canadian neurosurgeons. We are planning to work in collaboration with this project in order to design surgical scenarios as part of a curriculum for the simulator; making use of Game Engine development tools as part of the prototyping for the system development. Our project will also focus on the evaluation of the simulated scenarios, making use of perceptual and educational evaluation methodologies. The outcome of our research will benefit both partner organizations: (1) LHSC, by developing training modules and a curriculum that neurosurgery residents can use to rehearse and refine surgical skills; and (2) Digital Extremes, by exploring this avenue as a new market for their software.

Faculty Supervisor:

Drs. Roy Eagleson & Sandrine de Riabupierre

Student:

Ngan Nguyen, Ryan Armstrong & Jing Jin

Partner:

London Health Sciences Centre

Discipline:

Engineering - biomedical

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Western University