PALPATION SIMULATOR FOR LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY WITH HAPTIC FEEDBACK

This paper addresses a real-time palpation simulator that allows surgeons to employ a palpation method during laparoscopic surgery. We use a volumetric liver model obtained from CT (Computer Tomography) data as a target organ. In our simulator, feedback force is calculated according to the material property of the volumetric liver model and human operator’s interaction with the volumetric model. The liver is modeled with the Shaperetaining Chain Linked Model (the S-chain model) for real-time volume haptic rendering. Human factor study is performed to investigate whether novices (people who are not familiar with haptic systems) can easily access the abnormal portion from the normal portion of the human liver. The result of the human factor study demonstrates that our simulator is suitable for the simulation of the palpation method.