SIMULATOR FOR LASER PHOTOCOAGULATION IN OPHTHALMOLOGY

The practice of laser photocoagulation plays a major role in the ocula r therapy, but the persistence of many postoperative complications den otes genuine difficulty in mastering the technique. The authors presen t a device which, thanks to the use of simulation, enables actual prac tice to be dissociated from apprenticeship. While complying with the c onstraints of realism with regard to habitual conditions of laser use, the device offers access to a wide variety of clinical situations. Th e apparatus is built around the traditional instrument. A virtual imag e of the fundus is produced in real time from the sensors which detect the actual gestures used. The calculations make use of textured geome trical models. Digitized color photographs are organized to form a dat abase which reflects the diversity of pigmentations and pathologies. A software interface has been developed to facilitate the use of the de vice. The prototype Is operated using a PC-compatible computer; it dis plays the images at the rate of at least seven per second on a miniatu re CGA screen incorporated in the slit-lamp. It is currently being val idated for clinical applications, Above and beyond apprenticeship in l aser photocoagulation, its potential applications extend to the entire field of ophthalmogical symptomatology and, more broadly, to the simu lation of any examination conducted with the help of binocular or endo scopic optics.