Surgical Simulation: Predicting The Outcome Of Reconstructive Surgery

Surgical simulation, like flight simulation, allows the user to be trained to perform a complex task using an interactive computer environment. This interactive environment has progressed from a two-dimensional screen to a three-dimensional virtual reality. In the case of surgical simulation, the surgeon can perform life-like operations on an electronic cadaver in a 'virtual' operating room. This allows the surgeon to explore many options, and perform an operation multiple times in different ways in order to choose the operation with the best outcome. A surgical simulator has three basic components (1) the computer, (2) the interface and (3) the physical model. Future, more advanced surgical simulators will include knowledge-based systems to assist and train the surgeon.