Gonzalo Esteban

Computer surgery 3D simulations for a new teaching-learning model

Using 3D computer simulations for training surgeons is not new, but neither is the use of e-learning for improving students knowledge acquisition. What we propose is to use 3D computer simulations in such a versatile way that those simulations could act as learning objects designed directly by those who own the experience we want to be transmitted. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to create a model in charge of communicating learning objects and simulators. This model ensures that, on the one hand, the simulation offers an interface to the learning process stable enough not to be affected by every small change. On the other hand, the model also ensures that the simulation offers a mechanism for adopting changes in the learning process. The key to solve this contradiction is to take the complex behavior of the simulation objects out of their control, leaving in them just very basic behaviors. This paper presents the problem and the design proposed to solve it in a more detailed way.

Playing with SHULE: surgical haptic learning environment

The application of the Information and Communication Technologies to different disciplines such as surgical education opens new possible ways to carry out teaching and learning processes. While surgery used to be linked to the use of physical models, techniques such as Virtual Reality make possible new and more economic ways to learn. Virtual reality allows students to practice with virtual objects, with a very low cost. This may help those students to develop different skills. Some of them can be related with touch sense, which involves the addition of haptic interfaces to virtual reality simulators. The present work does not aim to do a specific haptic simulator to learn a surgical technique; the idea is to present a framework to build haptic surgical simulators to be used with educational proposes. In order to increase users motivation in the simulations are represented as serious games. The information of the simulations is sent to the LMS in a transparent way for the user, and once there students and teachers can evaluate it. In this way the framework enables the definition of serious games based in haptic simulations.

Design of a haptic simulator framework for modelling surgical learning systems

Performing a surgery requires a high degree of skill and experience, so it is well known that in order to become a surgeon someone must take several years of intense study and practice. The use of virtual reality simulators aids in this process by offering new features that the traditional methods simply can not include, like experience unfamiliar scenarios or practice several times without having an economic cost. In this context, when developers try to create a new medical haptic simulator, they face many problems: existing dedicated frameworks are not standard and mature enough and the development often requires interviews with experts, which turns into long development times. This paper is the continuation of a previous work that presented an approach to surgical procedures using computer haptic simulators. Here, we describe a detailed version of the model beneath that approach by showing its software architecture. This description will cover the formal definition of the model, its modelization using BPMN notation and its software object-oriented design focusing on its core functionality, which is based on combining three design patterns: the State Machine (for controlling the execution flow of the simulation through events), the Visitor (for setting the actions within the simulation) and the Observer (for collecting the outcome of the simulation execution).

ICT for Older People to Learn about ICT: Application and Evaluation

Information and communication technologies are becoming a common instrument of daily life. They are available to more and more people everyday, but that does not imply that they are usable and useful for everyone. There are specific groups such as older people, with specific characteristics, such as motor control problems or reduced vision, that affect both the way they use these technologies and also how they learn how to use them. In this paper, we propose to use massive open online courses in order to show older people how to take advantage of the resources available through new technologies. This proof of concept shows that the use of ICT for learning about ICT can be an adequate solution for older people.

HCore: a game engine independent OO architecture for fast development of haptic simulators for teaching/learning

The contribution described in this paper is encompassed in the development of haptic simulators as e-learning tools. The application field chosen for a proof of concept is surgery. A complete surgery is not a simple task and involves different skills to be combined in the right way and in the right order. Existing simulators in surgery field are focused on one specific task to train one particular skill, such as needle insertion or suturing. They are usually developed as stand-alone applications based on frameworks that manage the synchronization of the graphic and haptic parts, integrate physics engines and offer support for the most common haptic devices available in the market. But there are no standardized APIs that let developers easily increase the complexity of the simulators, neither let them include expertise knowledge. In order to solve this problem, we have previously defined a model for representing surgery procedures. This architecture encapsulates the surgeon expertise in order to use simulators as teaching/learning tools. In this work, HCore is presented as the middle layer of this architecture. Our goal is to offer a simplified interface as a step forward rapid haptic simulators development and, at the same time, provide independency from the particular game engine used in the lower layer.

Mobile Robot Performance in Robotics Challenges: Analyzing a Simulated Indoor Scenario and Its Translation to Real-World

This paper discusses the pros and cons of using 3D simulators for testing the autonomous behavior of mobile robots in indoor environments. Major contribution of the paper is the discussion about which problems that can be faced using the simulator and those that cannot. We present the integration and calibration of a real non-commercial robot in a simulator, the characterization of the errors in sensing, navigation, and manipulation, and how these errors would impact in the real performance of the robot. The experimental support of the claims made in the paper has been developed using the gazebo simulator. RoCKIn competition rulebook defined the indoor restrictions.

Implementation of a haptic simulation environment for surgical learning systems

The acquisition of manual and visual skills for a surgery student is related with their practical experience. An alternative to traditional methods of surgical learning is the use of virtual reality simulators. However, there is not a standard to guarantee proper learning with virtual reality simulators. In order to solve this, we have designed a framework that facilitates developing this type of surgery simulators. The present work summarizes the design of the framework and delves into implementation details gathered through the application of SCRUM agile methodology. Among this details this research is specially focused in how to model the information obtained while using the simulator, that allow assessing students performance.

Building 3D models for reconstructing a virtual cataract surgery haptic simulation

Through computer simulations we can recreate different real-life situations with the addition of controlling its parameters at any time. Having this, a simulation can show us many possible scenarios, even those that otherwise could not be tested or proven due to some factors (economic, material, physical, etc.). Traditionally most of the simulations are created using both, physics and graphics; but recently, the addition of haptics has given another turn on the screw towards the computer simulation. By adding touch, simulators are no longer attached to the computer displays. The users can now interact in real time with the virtual environment, pushing, feeling and manipulating objects. This discipline has revolutionized the field of medical training, as trainees can now improve their skills using a simulator instead of the traditional methods. This paper is part of a larger project that aims to create a framework for teaching surgical procedures. As a first step, we are developing a cataract surgery simulation using haptic devices. However, in this paper we only cover the description of the issues we found while creating the graphical elements of the surgery. As there are several elements, this work only describes the design of the models for the eye and a few of the tools used during the surgical procedure.