Computer makes surgery a virtual reality

November 4, 1995
Web posted at: 1:00 a.m. EST

From Correspondent Brian Nelson

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- From the surgeon's knives to the anesthesiologist's needle, virtual reality is shaping up as a prominent training tool in the world of medicine.

One of the biggest dangers a doctor faces when giving a patient an epidural pain killer is allowing the needle to penetrate too close to the spinal cord. A mistake could leave the patient paralyzed.

Practicing on real patients is risky, and on pieces of fruit, it's not nearly the same. But medical residents may soon see and feel this tricky procedure without risk, using virtual reality.

The epidural simulator allows doctors to practice in a realistic but safe environment. (352K QuickTime movie)

The simulator was developed by Ohio State University Medical School and the Ohio Supercomputer center. Using digital graphics and a data bank of recorded forces from actual surgeries, the device allows a medical resident to experience the same feeling a trained anesthesiologist would get in giving the injection. It is done with the help of a black box from a California company called Immersion.

"The computer determines what forces would be appropriate to simulate the various layers of the skin and the ligaments and then that force calculation is sent back out to the box, where a DC motor applies the forces to the needle," says Mike Levin of Immersion Corp.

In virtual reality, there is no terrible price to pay if the novice makes a mistake. It's as safe as a flight simulator, according to Mike Sinclair, who runs the interactive media lab at Georgia Tech University.

"Instead of just or two operations a day, you could literally do dozens," Sinclair says.

Collaborating with the Medical College of Georgia, the media lab has created a prototype of a device that simulates eye surgery.

Sinclair demonstrated how the device gives him a 360 degree view of the eye, something no teaching hospital can offer today. (424K QuickTime movie) In the next stage of development, he will be able to feel the operation as well.

"This is also going in the computer's memory, eventually to put into our surgical simulator so that the surgeon actually feels this same force that was recorded when a skilled surgeon was performing these procedures on a real eye," Sinclair says. (152K AIFF sound or 152K WAV sound)

Both products are still in the testing stage and are not expected to reach the market for about a year or more.

Computer makes surgery a virtual reality

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