Consider the LapSim Haptic System from Surgical Science. The system uses virtual training system to allow surgeons to practice on many procedures, either in haptic or non-haptic mode. In order to get an idea of the LapSim, I tested it as an engineer to see what the typical novice surgeon undergoes. There are many companies who engineer medical training tools to help doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. This new generation of medical education learner, grew up on many of the milestones engineers have accomplished over the last 40 years to include computers and advances in electronics. These engineered tools for learning answered a call from the healthcare community to help reshape medicine into the 21st century. Although education doesn’t always get the spot light; TV shows are made about doctors who’ve already completed their medical training and sometimes delve into the drama of their personal lives versus medicine, the engineers have stood in the background once more, designing and re-analyzing the education tools used by the most successful surgical practices.
Clinical Engineer performing his first surgical simulation separating the mesentery vessels