Maxillofacial Surgical Simulation System With Haptic Feedback

Due to the complexity of the maxillofacial surgery, the novice should be sufficiently trained before one is qualified to carry on the surgery. To reduce the training costs and improve the training efficiency, a virtual mandible surgical system with haptic feedback is proposed. This surgical simulation system offers users the haptic feedback while simulating maxillofacial surgery. An integrated model is introduced to optimize the system simulation process, which includes force output to a six-degree-of-freedom haptic device. Based on the anatomy structure of the bone tissue, a two-layer mechanism model is designed to balance the requirement of real-time response and the force feedback accuracy. Collision detection, force rendering, and grinding function are studied to simulate some essential operations: open reduction, osteotomy, and palate fixation. The proposed simulation platform can assist in the training and planning of these oral and maxillofacial surgeries. The fast response feature enables surgeons to design a patient-specific guide plate in real-time. Ten stomatology surgeons evaluated this surgical simulation system from the following four indexes: the level of immersion, user-friendliness, stability, and the effect of surgical training. The evaluation score is eight out of ten.