TOWARDS INTERACTIVE REALISM - THE VIRTUAL-REALITY ARTHROSCOPY TRAINING SIMULATOR

Arthroscopy has already become an irreplacable method in diagnostics. The arthroscope, supplied with optic and light source, and the explora tory probe are inserted into the knee joint through two small incision s located underneath the kneecap. So far, the skills required for an a rthroscopy have been taught the learning-by-doing way. Against this ba ck ground, the Fraunhofer-Institute fur Graphische Datenverarbeitung, in cooperation with the Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfalklinik (BGU) Fr ankfurt/Main, developed a highly interactive medical training system f or arthroscopy by means of computer graphics and Virtual Reality (VR) techniques. Two main issues could be addressed: the 3D reconstruction process and the 3D interaction. The goal of the reconstruction process was to obtain a realistic representation of the knee joint derived fr om a MR (magnetic resonance) image sequence, which had to be suitable for computer simulation. Moreover, the 3D interaction of the training system had to simulate a real arthroscopy, providing an intuitive hand ling of the instruments.