Introduction of the SinaSim: A Low-Cost Laparoscopic SurgerySimulator Using Virtual Reality Environment

Purpose: Virtual reality based minimally invasive surgical trainers have been proved to be highly effective for training of surgical residents before clinical practice. In this article we introduce the SinaSim, a low-cost laparoscopic surgery simulator based on virtual reality environment. Methods: The most important part in developing a virtual reality system is to making the virtual reality software of a surgical practice and modeling the physical properties and reaction of soft tissues in real time. At SinaSim we used a newly developed graphical engine to minimize the cost and maximize the widespread usage of this system. Results: Screenshots of the final graphical view of each training task as well as graphical user interface which provides the trainees with necessary information about their learning progress, are included in this report. Conclusion: The preliminary results of this study shows that the performance of both hardware and software of the SinaSim laparoscopic surgery simulator are comparable with a commercial virtual reality based trainer in spite of its lower final price.