An Ultrasound-Guided Organ Biopsy Simulation with 6DOF Haptic Feedback

Abstract

Abstract. Ultrasound-guided biopsy is one of the most fundamental, but difficult, skills to acquire in interventional radiology. Intensive training, especially in the needle insertion, is required for trainee radiologists to perform safe procedures. In this paper, we propose a virtual reality simulation system to facilitate the training of radiologists and physicians in this procedures. Key issues addressed include a 3D anatomical model reconstruction, data fusion of multiple ultrasound volumes and computed tomography (CT), realistic rendering, interactive navigation, and haptic feedbacks in six degrees of freedom (DOF). Simulated ultrasound imagery based on real ultrasound data is presented to users, in real-time, while performing an examination on the needle placement into a virtual anatomical model. Our system delivers a realistic haptic feeling for trainees throughout the simulated needle insertion procedure, permitting repeated practices with no danger to patients.

Experimental evaluation of co-manipulated ultrasound-guided flexible needle steering

“…The proposed system enables operators to control the needle rotations while receiving navigation feedback from the path planning and control algorithms. In previous studies, haptic feedback was used mainly for avoiding collisions, conveying kinematic constraints or sensing tissue stiffness . To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to use vibratory and visual feedback to give the operator navigation cues using an ultrasound‐guided system with an intra‐operative path planner.…”

Visualization of Needle Access Pathway and a Five-DoF Evaluation

“…Furthermore, there are many needle placement simulators aiming at simulating the actual procedures during the operation. They focus broadly on the tissue deformation under needle insertion [9], [10], haptic rendering [11], [12], or training effectiveness [13]. Most of these systems provide limited assistance for inserting a needle according to a predefined pathway or safety areas.…”

A Serious Game for Learning Ultrasound-Guided Needle Placement Skills

“…In early investigations, simulators with limited postprocessing of ultrasound images were proposed where the training experience can be enriched by 3-D position sensors [5] and/or haptic feedback devices [6], [21]. Ni et al [7] proposed a biopsy simulator that models a multilayered 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) haptic feedback for needle advancing, which enhance the realism of needle insertion simulation. Goksel [22] proposed an interactive deformable model for reproducing the deformation of prerecorded ultrasound data caused by a virtual transducer or needle.…”

“…In our work, we concern more about the interactivity of users and also the sonovisualization of needle. In most of the current simulators [5]- [7], inserted needle is just represented as a white line and shadows are not presented. This would greatly degrade the learning content.…”

“…Recently, some simulators [5]- [7] have been proposed for the training of ultrasound-guided needle placements skills but there are still some shortcomings in existing simulators. First, scenarios in these simulators are limited because adding new scenarios is a difficult and time-consuming task.…”