A novel VR-based simulator for the interventional surgical catheter and guidewire cooperation

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is an emerging technique, which is widely used and studied for computer-assisted training. The cooperation of the catheter and the guidewire is an essential part during the MIS procedure, which is not fully paid attention to but anatomic vascular deformation simulation. In this paper, a novel simulator integrated with a complete strategy for the cooperation of the catheter and the guidewire is proposed. A composite model of the physically based catheter and the guidewire, which are mapped to distinguished visual model and collision model of these two devices, is constructed at the initial point in the aorta vessels. Once it comes into the neurovascular cavity, the composite model is decomposed to two physically based model corresponding to the catheter and the guidewire respectively. Thereafter, the guidewire is operated and propelled through the catheter, which is fixed in position. The results show that the composite model exhibits equivalent efficiency and effectiveness as well as the separate catheter model, especially at the bifurcation of the vessels. The simulator proposed herein provides a fundamental module meeting the real-time and realistic requirements of our endovascular interventional surgery training system.