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International audience; Purpose Training in Interventional Radiology currently uses the apprenticeship model, where clinical and technical skills of invasive procedures are learnt during practice in patients. This apprenticeship training method is increasingly limited by regulatory restrictions on working hours, concerns over patient risk through trainees' inexperience and the variable exposure to case mix and emergencies during training. To address this, we have developed a computer-based simulation of visceral needle puncture procedures. Methods A real-time framework has been built that includes: segmentation, physically based modelling, haptics rendering, pseudo-ultrasound generation and the concept of a physical mannequin. It is the result of a close collaboration between different universities, involving computer scientists, clinicians, clinical engineers and occupational psychologists. Results The technical implementation of the framework is a robust and real-time simulation environment combining a physical platform and an immersive computerized virtual environment. The face, content and construct validation have been previously assessed, showing the reliability and effectiveness of this framework, as well as its potential for teaching visceral needle puncture. Conclusion A simulator for ultrasound-guided liver biopsy has been developed. It includes functionalities and metrics extracted from cognitive task analysis. This framework can be useful during training, particularly given the known difficulties in gaining significant practice of core skills in patients.

Commercial interventional radiology vascular simulators emulate instrument navigation and device deployment, though none supports the Seldinger technique, which provides initial access to the vascular tree. This paper presents a novel virtual environment for teaching this core skill. Our simulator combines two haptic devices: vessel puncture with a virtual needle and catheter and guidewire manipulation. The simulation software displays the instrument interactions with the vessels. Instruments are modelled using a mass-spring approximation, while efficient collision detection and collision response allow real time interactions. Experienced interventional radiologists evaluated the haptic components of our simulator as realistic and accurate. The vessel puncture haptic device proposes a first prototype to simulate the Seldinger technique. Our simulator presents realistic instrument behaviour when compared to real instruments in a vascular phantom. This paper presents the first simulator to train the Seldinger technique. The preliminary results confirm its utility for interventional radiology training.