AUA 2017: Haptic Technology as a Platform for Emulation of Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in a Novel Device (Hapto-Perc) Enhances Patient-Specific Training and Tactile Feedback to Urologists with Scarce Experience

Boston, MA (UroToday.com) Dr. Torres-Anguiano presented a novel haptic simulator developed for training urologists for PCNL. The goal of this is to help improve urologic training regarding the procedure while minimizing fluoroscopy exposure for both surgeons and patients, alike. Their team acquired real-patient data in the form of DICOM images from abdominal CT scans. These images were then segmented by structure (e.g. skin, abdominal muscles, kidneys, etc.), and these segmentations were made such that the voxel data regarding Hounsfield units remained intact. This particular data is then assigned various stiffness coefficients that can be fed back to a needle-like controller which will provide haptic feedback as the user penetrates the various structures.

They have been able to successfully utilize this method to obtain this tactile feedback which potentially can be implemented in urologic training. The author further described that fluoroscopy is avoided in this method by utilizing a volume-rendering image to emulate the fluoroscopic image. Torres-Anguiano et al. have coined this the “Hapto-Perc” and are planning to use the system in prospective studies to evaluate its efficacy with regard to urologic training.

Presented By: Juan Ramón Torres-Anguiano

Authors: Juan Ramón Torres-Anguiano, Cristian Luciano, Andrea Faso, Zaki Almallah, Craig Niederberger, Ervin Kocjancic

Affiliation: Department of Urology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Written By: Shoaib Safiullah, MS4 for UroToday.com

at the 2017 AUA Annual Meeting - May 12 - 16, 2017 – Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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