Virtual dissection training environment

In the past decade, the scientific and educational communities have exhibited a growing interest in alternatives to animal dissection. This thesis describes the design and development of a method for real-time simulation of and interaction with deformable objects in a biological dissection environment using haptics. The focus of this thesis is the modelling and simulation of deformable objects. We have presented a novel data structure combined with geometrically efficient techniques to simulate a "tissue peeling" and grasping method using subdivision techniques. A special class of object deformations is also presented involving contact detection between deformable bodies which combines deformation and contact detection algorithms to deliver a more realistic model for interaction forces through haptic devices. The simulator includes haptic feedback to provide guidance and performance measures to the user. An informal user study conducted with our Virtual Dissection Simulator showed that participants preferred haptic feedback to no feedback.