iTACS: Interactive Training And Assessment For Cataract Surgery

iTACS - Interactive Training & Assessment For Cataract Surgery

iTACS is a virtual reality cataract surgery simulator, providing an interactive training and assessment platform for ophthalmologists to conduct their surgical practice and rehearsal via computer and a pair of force feedback haptic devices, where surgical performance is evaluated along the training. The cataract surgery simulator is capable of providing selection on every parts of eye anatomy including cornea, iris, lens, sclera and muscle for medical practitioners to study and observe around the inner part of the human eye which can’t be approached on live patients.

Various types of virtual surgical instruments are available in the simulator for users to choose when performing particular surgical procedures. Since two haptic devices are equipped for the surgical simulators, surgeons and medical trainees are able to switch the tools between both hands by referring to the graphical user interface (GUI) that is created in the platform. Visual feedback such as tissue deformation and force reaction movements of human eyeball are implemented into the simulator along with haptic feedback that gives tactile sensation when collision is detected during the simulation. Users are able to sharpen their skills on specific surgical procedures by referring to the performance evaluation system embedded in the simulator. Concerns in phacoemulsification cataract surgery such as position of corneal incision and damage on posterior capsule during phacoemulsification are embedded in the proposed surgical simulator to improve the awareness of ophthalmologists in avoiding surgical trauma and retinal detachment. Besides that, graphical surgical guidance and evaluation in the simulator are able to assist ophthalmologists along their surgical training.

Keywords: Phacoemulsification cataract surgery, Surgical training, Medical simulator, Virtual reality, Haptic device.