Robotic Surgical Simulator lets doctors sharpen their skills by operating on polygons
By Tim Stevens 
posted February 26th 2010 9:43AM
posted February 26th 2010 9:43AM
posted February 26th 2010 9:43AM
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I'm in, but only of the polygons scream.
@DTJ
I like it as well. I know this is never supposed to actually see a patient, but only train the physicians, but I'd be happy to see this in my doctors office, instead of the bloodbot which I still have nightmares about.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/bloodbot-draws-blood-inspires-fear/
Ok, I'm in. But only if the polygons scream.
I hate you, comment system.
Giant sewing machine!
ITS THE ROBOT FROM WALL-E!!! The one that punches the buttons. and lets Wall-e and eve though a door.... learns to wave.. THAT ONE!!
@DeFlanko
haha wait can you go into more detail?
No decent simulator uses the cheap phantom haptic devices. The fidelity and reliability will be crap. Nice cart though.
The certainly have come a long way since the first simulator, Dr. Mario.
Domo...
If Tony Soprano and Joe Pesci walked in to the hospital with some surgery simulator machines I think I'd be a little suspicious...
"Dese machines, dey like uh, fell awf da back of a truck so imma give you a real good deal"
If you perform a lobotomy on a polygon, does it render him 'simple'?
Reminds me of the old game Life & Death, and it's not nearly as fun sequel Life & Death II: The Brain.
I just remember if you cut into them without administering anesthesia it would generate a "auuuuAAAHHHHHGGGGG" from the PC Speaker. Fun times.
http://images.4chan.org/g/src/1267197060506.jpg
herpdy derp!
@guideXD
Hmmm.. cancer much?
@Cru
Back to /b/ kid.
Will this thing cause porygon to evolve?
Oh, wait, the article says "polygon"...
This is the forerunner to this machine...
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/rap_sheet/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/operation_game1.jpeg
I'd feel amiss if I didn't comment that they should do their virtual operations on ROUSs, since I don't think they really exist anyways.
There's one of these simulators at the technical museum in vienna. I tried it, and failed misserably.
blood everywhere on the screen *shivers*
You've got a charlie horse?! OPERATION!
Broken heart, of course! OPERATION!
Water on the knee? OPERATION!
A thousand dollar fee! OPERATION!
Spare rib or two! OPERATION!
I'm the doctor for you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZAaHv_8xUk
I've used the robot. The best thing about it: 3D view of the intraoperative field, and the ability to magnify, dimish the machine's interpretation of your movements.
The worst thing about it: The models in North America have no feedback, so you can't touch a vein/artery and feel its consistency in your fingers. You can't push a membrane and know whether or not there's a solid organ behind it. The robot doesn't give you feedback. There's a model in India that does, give you feedback.
Either way, it's tremendously not cost effective, and is very experimental in most fields (urology and cardiosurgery excluded)... but I hope it takes over.
@TareG
Oh and the instruments aren't flexible, and neither is the scope, which IMO is a huge drawback.
Surgical Simulators have been there for more than a decade...
http://www.simbionix.com/
http://www.mentice.com/
http://www.surgical-science.com/
...
I got to play with a da Vinci a few weeks ago at the Pittsburgh International Auto show (what it was doing there is anyone's guess...), and I can say I was thoroughly impressed by the whole thing. They had the robot end about 12 feet away from the control unit, with a bunch of little rubber cones and rods and numerous tiny rubber bands to manipulate. It took me about 20 seconds to really get the hang of the thing; the movement was very natural and the 3D view of the "operating" surface really made it feel like the little arms were an extension of your body. Within a few minutes, I had no problems knotting the rubber bands together (then I got kicked off because I line was forming).
Even more impressive, my 7-year-old niece had no problems whatsoever trying it, and it inspired her to want to be a doctor so she can use it more.
Strangely, a few times when I was using it, one of the arms would stop working, requiring me to release the controls and re-engage them. The da Vinci rep didn't go into specifics as to why this happened, but it may have had something to do with the group of kids actually touching the robotic arms, which I couldn't see from my vantage point.
Still, the training thing sounds like a good plan, as playing with little rubber rods and cones doesn't translate well to say, a tumor.
"These days you wouldn't jump behind the controls of a real plane without logging a few hours on the simulator"
Yes, you would. These days, most people learning how to fly don't see a simulator until after they get their private pilot certificate and are working towards their instrument rating. In fact, primary instructors who train students who have used simulators before often find themselves spending extra time helping the student un-learn bad habits. The only way to truly learn during primary training is to launch with an instructor in the right seat. Having said that, simulators are still extraordinarily helpful to students pursuing advanced certificates and type ratings.