Surgical Simulation - A Powerful Tool for Reducing Errors

Simulation-based surgical training is in a unique position to help prevent surgical errors
Simulation can improve surgical training by allowing practice to proficiency on a virtual, not a live, patient
Simulation-based approaches allow management of specific clinical challenges to be rehearsed in all their complexity so that surgeons are well-trained and practiced when they enter the OR

The Specific Need for Open Surgery Simulators

Despite the proliferation of laparoscopic surgery, most surgery is done through open-access incisions. Yet, no commercial simulators exist for this. An open simulator is more complex than one for laparoscopic surgery because surgeons interact with the body in larger surgical fields via handheld tools. This creates complex tool-tissue interactions that encompass extensive anatomy, and require stereo display and haptic devices to enable direct visualization of the hands.

What is OpenSurgSim?

OpenSurgSim will be the first open source surgery simulator that is freely available for commercial purposes
OpenSurgSim will provide the ability to create physics-based simulations in immersive desktop-type environments. In an OpenSurgSim based simulator, users can hold actual surgical tools attached to haptics interface devices while watching a stereo display of the physics-based interaction of the tools with the simulated tissues.
The confluence of technological advancement, previous development work, and lower hardware costs has created a perfect storm for OpenSurgSim development.
Using OpenSurgSim, developers build and deploy simulators that teach surgical skills, thus enhancing the quality of training.

Who Will Benefit?

Developers

Don’t have to start from scratch
Save several person-years of development
Quickly set up and run a simulation and hook up an IO
Join an elite team that is dedicated to solving a real-world problem

Trainers

Start with our existing framework; tweak it to fit your needs

Trainees

Get targeted training
Practice until you get it right
Be able to demonstrate your proficiency

Businesses

Use the OpenSurgSim platform instead of building one from scratch
Get a jump on simulator development, at considerable cost and time savings.

Patients

Be confident that your surgeon has demonstrated proficiency on the procedure you are going to have done

OpenSurgSim Definition of Success

OpenSurgSim will be deemed successful when

significantly less effort is required to build a surgical simulator,
considerably less maintenance is required to extend a surgical simulator,
the range of available simulators is expanded, and
simulators built from OpenSurgSim are used for surgical training.