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An intersubject variable regional anesthesia simulator with a virtual patient architecture

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International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose is to provide an intuitive VR-based training environment for regional anesthesia (RA). The research question is how to process subject-specific datasets, organize them in a meaningful way and how to perform the simulation for peripheral regions.

Methods

We propose a flexible virtual patient architecture and methods to process datasets. Image acquisition, image processing (especially segmentation), interactive nerve modeling and permutations (nerve instantiation) are described in detail. The simulation of electric impulse stimulation and according responses are essential for the training of peripheral RA and solved by an approach based on the electric distance.

Results

We have created an XML-based virtual patient database with several subjects. Prototypes of the simulation are implemented and run on multimodal VR hardware (e.g., stereoscopic display and haptic device). A first user pilot study has confirmed our approach.

Conclusion

The virtual patient architecture enables support for arbitrary scenarios on different subjects. This concept can also be used for other simulators. In future work, we plan to extend the simulation and conduct further evaluations in order to provide a tool for routine training for RA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virtual Reality Group, RWTH Aachen University, Seffenter Weg 23, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Sebastian Ullrich, Eduard Fried, Thorsten Frommen & Torsten Kuhlen

  2. Department of Anaesthesiology, Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany

    Oliver Grottke

  3. Department of Medical Informatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Wei Liao & Thomas M. Deserno

  4. Department of Anaesthesiology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany

    Rolf Rossaint

Authors
  1. Sebastian Ullrich
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  2. Oliver Grottke
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  3. Eduard Fried
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  4. Thorsten Frommen
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  5. Wei Liao
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  6. Rolf Rossaint
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  7. Torsten Kuhlen
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  8. Thomas M. Deserno
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sebastian Ullrich.

Additional information

This work was developed under the auspices of the German Research Foundation (DFG, RO 2000/7-1, KU 1132/4-1, LE 1108/8-1).

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Ullrich, S., Grottke, O., Fried, E. et al. An intersubject variable regional anesthesia simulator with a virtual patient architecture. Int J CARS 4, 561–570 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-009-0371-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-009-0371-5

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