Real-time visually and haptically accurate surgical simulation.

The Visible Human Database provides a complete submillimeter photographic and radiological description of both a male and a female cadaver. The Center for Human Simulation has developed real-time algorithms that allow a user to wield a virtual scalpel and produce arbitrary cuts into the reconstructed body. Real-time interaction is achieved by producing the appropriate texture mapped surfaces directly from the Visible Human Database. We are currently combining a 3 degree of freedom PHANToM haptic device (SensAble Devices) with our surgical cutting algorithms to produce a system with the look and feel of surgical cutting.