Accuracy of ventriculostomy catheter placement using a head- and hand-tracked high-resolution virtual reality simulator with haptic feedback

• Published in: Journal of neurosurgery Vol. 107; no. 3; p. 515
• Main Authors: Banerjee, P Pat, Luciano, Cristian J, Lemole, Jr, G Michael, Charbel, Fady T, Oh, Michael Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.09.2007
• Subjects: Catheterization; Clinical Competence; Computer Simulation; Computer-Assisted Instruction - instrumentation; Feedback; Humans; Internship and Residency; Neuronavigation - education; Reproducibility of Results; User-Computer Interface; Ventriculostomy - education
• ISSN: 0022-3085
• DOI: 10.3171/JNS-07/09/0515

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of ventriculostomy catheter placement on a head- and hand-tracked high-resolution and high-performance virtual reality and haptic technology workstation. Seventy-eight fellows and residents performed simulated ventriculostomy catheter placement on an ImmersiveTouch system. The virtual catheter was placed into a virtual patient's head derived from a computed tomography data set. Participants were allowed one attempt each. The distance from the tip of the catheter to the Monro foramen was measured. The mean distance (+/- standard deviation) from the final position of the catheter tip to the Monro foramen was 16.09 mm (+/- 7.85 mm). The accuracy of virtual ventriculostomy catheter placement achieved by participants using the simulator is comparable to the accuracy reported in a recent retrospective evaluation of free-hand ventriculostomy placements in which the mean distance from the catheter tip to the Monro foramen was 16 mm (+/- 9.6 mm).