WILMINGTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sensables
customers will feature prominently at the Medicine
Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR) Conference in Newport Beach, California
beginning tomorrow, where they will showcase innovative haptically-enabled
surgical, medical simulation, rehabilitation and robotic applications developed
using Sensables Phantom® force feedback haptic devices. Studies have shown
that adding tactile feedback into image-guided surgical and simulation
solutions can enhance proficiency, accuracy and dexterity for better prepared
surgeons and better surgical outcomes. As a result, force feedback haptics
technology has increasingly gained adoption in immersive training and
simulation applications, and is now moving into diagnostics, patient-specific
surgical planning, stroke rehabilitation and in robotically-controlled,
minimally invasive procedures.
“Force-feedback haptics are rapidly gaining interest in
virtually every area of medicine – from learning basic surgical skills to
administering ultrasounds; from patient specific surgical planning to
haptically guiding surgical robots”
Sensable is the de facto leader in the force-feedback
haptics market, with a rich patent portfolio and over 10,000 systems installed
worldwide. Sensables Phantom haptic devices demonstrate the power of touch to
transform biomedical innovation across a wide variety of computing platforms,
use cases and delivery models. At
MMVR this week, Sensable and its customers will show how adding the sense
of touch is changing the way surgeons are trained in fundamental skills, learn
advanced subspecialty skills, perform minimally invasive surgery, and achieve
proficiency even in geographies where training facilities or access to cadavers
are lacking.
Sensable customer applications cited or on display at MMVR
include:
- Virtual Basic Laparoscopic Skill Trainer (VBLaST), a
touch-enabled virtual reality platform from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, that is designed to train and test future surgeons,
and is the cornerstone of the universitys “Virtual
OR” initiative. Funded by an NIH grant, VBLaST is a virtual version of the
Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) training being developed by a joint
committee of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgery
(SAGES) and the American
College of Surgeons
(ACS). The VBLaST attaches actual laparoscopic tools to the ends of two Phantom
Omni force feedback haptic devices, which clinicians use to practice
transferring on-screen objects from hand to hand, helping them to learn the
correct feeling, force, and motions required in actual surgery. The system
provides a consistent, objective metric on surgical skills, and allows surgical
residents to be tested at a local facility at their convenience, rather than at
a few select cities and dates, where they must be observed and graded by
qualified proctors. Presently in the early stages of validation trials at four
Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals in Boston,
VBLaST is intended to become the standard way for credentialing surgeons who
perform laparoscopic procedures in the future. - NeuroTouch haptically-enabled brain surgery simulator,
developed by the National
Research Council (NRC) of Canada, is a platform that enables neurosurgeons
to rehearse a delicate operation on an anatomically precise virtual brain.
Surgeons must rely on more than visual input when operating on the tiny
structures of the brain – they must learn the feeling of various tissue types
as they navigate anatomies which vary tremendously across individuals and
disease states. NeuroTouch presents a virtual 3D brain on a computer screen as
users hold Sensables Phantom haptic device to feel the structures as they
follow a simulated surgery. When a surgical instrument touches virtual fibrous
tissue as in a tumor, the surgeon feels resistance, yet when soft tissue is
touched, the instrument moves smoothly. NeuroTouch allows surgical residents
unlimited practice opportunities, as well as presenting multiple surgical scenarios,
to become familiar with neurosurgical procedures at zero risk to patients. - Virtual Temporal Bone Surgery Simulator, developed by the Ohio
Supercomputer Center in partnership with Dr. Gregory Wiet, Associate
Professor, Otolaryngology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, a
teaching hospital of The Ohio State University. The simulator helps surgeons
learn the feeling of difficult and delicate surgical techniques associated with
ear surgery that requires drilling into a bone in the skull, called the
temporal bone. OSCs simulator has been used in Nicaragua,
a country where cadaveric materials are hard to access, to train local
ear-nose-throat (ENT) surgeons, and will be part of a planned training
laboratory in Central America. This highlights
the importance of using advanced simulators in developing nations where
physicians cannot acquire highly specialized clinical skills and rehearse
unusual anatomical conditions as readily as their peers in developed nations. - Stroke Rehabilitation application, created by Brain
Stimulation AB of Sweden using Sensables haptic devices and developed with SenseGraphics
H3DAPI
haptic application programming interface (API). The application provides an
entertaining way for patients to improve fine motor skills and improve
attention, and is presently being evaluated at a Swedish research institution.
The application leverages Umeå Universitys research in the field of VR, and the Umeå University
Hospitals research in
neurology and rehabilitation.
In addition, Sensable will display the newest version of its
Phantom haptic devices, which allows easy connection and configuration through
the standardized network interface, and supports the use of customized
end-effectors, such as surgical drills or endoscopic tools. Sensable will also
showcase a new version of its OpenHaptics™ developer toolkit, which allows
developers to easily touch-enable their applications and integrate them into
more platforms.
“Force-feedback haptics are rapidly gaining interest in
virtually every area of medicine – from learning basic surgical skills to
administering ultrasounds; from patient specific surgical planning to
haptically guiding surgical robots,” said Joan Lockhart, vice president of
marketing for Sensable. “As more universities and hospitals build simulation
and training centers, VCs and healthcare organizations continue to fund
minimally invasive procedures and advanced diagnostics, the market for
touch-enabling technology will continue to accelerate. We salute the innovation
of our customers in applying a sense of touch to better train, and better serve
all patients.”
About Sensable
Founded in 1993, Sensable remains the leading developer of touch-enabled
solutions and technology that allow users to not only see and hear an on-screen
computer application, but to actually “feel” it. With 44 patents granted and
over 10,000 systems installed worldwide, Sensable helps people innovate with
human touch solutions. The company markets and sells a suite of 3D organic
design solutions that includes its flagship product, Freeform; and the Phantom®
and Omni™ lines of haptic devices, used in surgical simulation and planning,
stroke rehabilitation, medical training, and a range of research and robotic
applications. With an unparalleled commitment to partnering with customers,
Sensable brings a human touch to innovating and implementing customer-centric
solutions. Sensable products are available
through direct and reseller channels worldwide. www.Sensable.com.
