Laparoscopic Training Exercises Using HTC VIVE.

Laparoscopic surgery is a relatively new field in developing countries. There is a scarcity of laparoscopically trained doctors due to a lack of training and resources available in hospitals. Training and evaluation of medical professionals to develop laparoscopic surgical skills are important and essential as it improves the success rate and reduces the risk during real surgery. The purpose of this research is to develop a series of training exercises based on virtual reality using HTC Vive headset to emulate real-world training of doctors. This virtual training not only gives the trainee doctors mastery in their profession but also decreases the chances of complications during laparoscopic surgery. After practicing on our simulator for three trials, doctors report enhancement in the following skills: time to complete a task, precision, efficiency of a task, and the recorded movements of surgical instruments using both hands. Our simulator is comparatively low cost as compared to the available simulator in the local market [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]