A knee arthroscopy training tool using virtual reality techniques

Arthroscopy is the form of minimally invasive surgery concerned with joints. The majority of arthroscopic procedures are for inspection or repair of the knee joint. Unlike other forms of keyhole surgery, arthroscopic surgery uses rigid tools in extremely confined cavities. These cavities contain structures which can be damaged easily by mistakes made during training; these mistakes can result in permanent joint damage. Current training methods include a variety of techniques from simple 'blackbox' trainers to complex physical models, however the majority of the training takes the form of supervised and sometimes unsupervised operations on patients. This paper describes the use of the computer-based graphical technology of virtual reality to provide a viable alternative to existing training methods.