Haptics for dental simulators: challenges and opportunities

Scope of the workshop

        In the past twenty years, dental simulation and training has been an active application area for haptics technology. Several haptics-enabled dental simulators have been developed and a few of them have been commercialized. Compared with the clinical requirements from dental schools, there still exist large improvement potential for current dental simulators, because the simulation of fine motor skill in dental operations propose big challenges for both haptic devices and haptic simulation software. In this workshop, we aim to provide a discussion forum for researchers and dentists to share their experiences and expectations for inventing useful dental simulators. Several key technical challenges will be discussed, including but not limiting to: design of the haptic device with high stiffness and low inertia, development of haptic rendering algorithms to simulate the diversified pathological changes, and subjective and objective evaluation procedure and standard of dental simulators etc.

Tentative Program

9:00         Welcome

9:20         Dental simulators, discovery of the requirements and evolution of the Simodont

                  Jos Meuleman. Moog B.V.

        For the past decade Moog has been working on the Moog Simodont Dental Trainer, of which 250+ systems have been installed worldwide. The Simodont is under continuous development. One of the reasons for development is the progressive insight in the requirements. Many requirements only emerged during use. In this workshop we will take you through the discovery of the requirements and consequently the evolution of the Simodont.

9:45         Haptodont: Haptic-based Dental Simulation

                  Mohamad Eid, New York University, USA

        In this talk, we present the development of the first generation Haptodont system; a realistic haptic-based simulator to train periodontal procedures for dental and dental hygiene students/clinicians. Realism is accomplished through three distinguished features: (1) a mechanism to attach real instruments to the haptic device end effector enhances the grip experience since learners feel the tactile properties of the instruments (rather than the haptic device stylus), (2) two haptic devices are utilized to simulate force feedback with both the dental instrument (dominant hand) and the mirror instrument (non-dominant hand), and (3) a finger support device using parallel manipulation mechanism is used for fulcrum tooth during probing. The software comprises of two Graphical User Interface (GUI) windows: the configuration window where an instructor defines periodontal exercises for learners to practice with and a simulation window where periodontal exercises are displayed for learners to interact with. The effectiveness of the Haptodont system is evaluated by a clinical professor and a clinical instructor of New York University College of Dentistry. We discuss results from this study and potential future direction. 

10:10        Ideal Haptic Devices for Dental Simulation

                   Yuru Zhang, Beihang University, China

        VR-based dental simulator for training is one of promising applications for haptic technology. During the past twenty years, several haptic-enhanced dental simulators have been developed, some of which have been commercialized. Response from early users has shown distinct advantages of haptic-enhanced dental simulator over traditional training approach. However, gaps between dentists’ expectation and performance of the simulators still exist. In this talk, we focus on technical challenges in the design of haptic devices for dental simulator. We start from a brief survey of current technology of haptic devices with respect to dental simulators. We then discuss what technical specifications are ideal for haptic devices applied for dental simulators. In particular, we address the problem of how to design a haptic device with high stiffness and low inertia, which is one of the key problems in dealing with technical challenges of haptic devices. We propose a new approach for solving the problem, address the advantages and limitations of the approach, and suggest some key points for future studies. 

10:35       Dental simulation in King's College London

                  Barry. F.A. Quinn, King's College London, UK

        In this talk, I will discuss the Dental Procedures which are presently being haptically simulated and some of the challenges related to these simulations and discuss some of the devices available on the market.

11:00       Break

11:15        Haptic rendering algorithms and preliminary user study on a dental simulator

                  Dangxiao Wang, Beihang University, China

        In this talk, I will introduce our work on 6-DoF haptic rendering algorithms for simulating multi-region contacts between dental instruments and diverse oral tissues including rigid teeth, deformable gingiva and diverse calculi etc. Based on these algorithms, we developed a haptic-visual-audio feedback dental simulator, iDental, which can simulate typical periodontal operations. Some preliminary user study on the simulator will be introduced and future research topics will be highlighted.

11:40        Technical requirements for haptic simulation of cavity preparation and restoration.

                   William Harwin, University of Reading,UK

        Haptic simulation of typical dental procedures have significant value in teaching and assessment of students that include undergraduates, and licensing of dentists and dental nurses who have qualified outside the geographical area where they wish to practice. Typically simulations have focused on cavity preparation but other areas include tooth restoration, periodontics, and potentially root canal, and implant procedures. The engineering underpinnings of these simulations will be covered along with an overview of new areas for research in haptic rendering.

12:05         Panel discussion and conclusion

Audience

        The audience of the workshop may include: researchers in the haptic device field, haptic rendering, surgical simulation, user study and evaluations etc.

Registration

       Interested attendees must register through the Eurohaptics conference portal.
       Additionally they are kindly requested to contact directly the workshop organizers by sending an email to hapticwang@buaa.edu.cn

Organizer

        Associate Professor, Dangxiao Wang, Beihang University

Dangxiao Wang received a Ph.D. degree from Beihang University, Beijing, China in 2004. Currently he is an Associate Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Virtual Reality Technology and Systems in Beihang University. From 2004 to 2006, he was a post Doc at Beihang University. From 2006 to 2007, he was an Assistant Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University. His research interests include haptic rendering, NeuroHaptics and medical robotic systems. He is a senior member of IEEE. He has been the chair of Executive Committee of the IEEE Technical Committee on Haptics (IEEE TCH) since 2014, and had served as the vice chair for publications of the IEEE TCH from 2011 to 2014

        Professor, William Harwin, University of Reading

Professor William Harwin Director of Research for the School of Systems Engineering at the University of Reading, where his research interests encompass cybernetics and the interfaces between humans and smart machines as typified by haptic devices, and medical and rehabilitation robots