Needle Thoracentesis Simulation Workstation for Medical Training

"Immersion Medical aims to establish the feasibility of a medical training simulator for needle thoracentesis. The proposed project involves several technical advances to Immersion's pre-existing simulator for needlestick procedures. We propose a hapticcomputer touchpad as an innovative solution to three tactile techniques used in thoracentesis: palpation of anatomical landmarks, percussion, and fremitus. Active force feedback will be developed as well as controlled passive haptics to provide realisticprocedural feel in the manipulation of needles, catheters and syringes. Planned software advances include refinements in computer modeling for surface deformation and for the interaction of rigid needles and catheters with body tissues that are pliant(e.g., pleura) and rigid (e.g., bone). Six external experts will evaluate the completed prototype for perceptual realism. In success, the completed simulator will be a real-time training device that integrates visual, haptic and audio features and will beoperable on a laptop computer for enhanced portability. Needle thoracentesis is a procedure for which advanced training has important implications in both military and civilian medicine. By creating a simulator for thoracentesis, we can transcend problemswith traditional training methods (human patients, mannequins, animals). Simulation has numerous advantages for the trainee, including: no risk to patients, no risk to trainees (e.g., no exp