A virtual reality based interventional cardiology simulation system

As cardiovascular disease is the leading killer around the world, there is a growing need for qualified interventional cardiologists. An interventional cardiology simulation system based on virtual reality is presented for the purpose of cardiac intervention training. A computer simulation circumstance is constructed to simulate what happens during an interventional cardiology procedure with multiple feedbacks of vision, audition, and haptic sense. Users practice the percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty procedure via different virtual instruments by using the virtual reality devices like FASTRAK and PHANToM Desktop. The architecture of the simulation system is presented, and several crucial issues are addressed.