Jaw surgery simulation in virtual reality for medical training

Abstract

The cutting of the lower jaw bone is an important surgical operation in the treatment of craniofacial disorders. However, many of the craniofacial disorders are rare occurrences. As a result, many medical students may never have hands-on experience on the cutting process. They rely on recorded materials such as books and videos which are not reliable skills transferring methods. In this work, we developed a virtual reality application for simulating the mandibular bone surgery. The system allows visualization of an operation room in a highly realistic virtual reality environment. Multiple operation modes are available and the user can use motion controllers to grip, cut, drill, join and compare the 3D model of the skull. For the cutting and drilling process, the guidelines for optimal cutting path are shown on a virtual model. The progress of the operation is evaluated and displayed as percentage numbers on user interface. The system continuously tracks the cutting line and announces the failure when the error rate is more than 10%. Our proposed system was evaluated by specialists in the field. In general, they provided positive feedback with some improvement suggestions for future works.