EyeSi – A simulator for intra-ocular surgery

Abstract

We present a computer-based medical workstation for the simulation of a vitrectomyt hat allows training and rehearsal of eye surgeons. The surgeon manipulates two original instruments inside a cardanically suspended mechanical model of the eye. The instrument positions are tracked by CCD cameras and monitored by a PC which then renders the scenery using a computer graphical model of the eye and the instruments. Stereoscopic images are presented to the user through two small LCD displays that are mounted to the system and emulate the stereo microscope used in real operations. The simulator offers the training of intra-ocular navigation as well as first approaches to interaction with pathological tissues using mass-spring and 3D-ChainMail models. All operations (tracking, rendering, collision detection, tissue manipulation) are computed in real-time on a PC.