Medical Engineering and Physics journal

“A Review of Virtual Reality Based Training Simulators for Orthopaedic Surgery” was accepted for publication in November 2015 by Medical Engineering & Physics.  It was completed by Prof Rob Middleton and Prof Tom Wainwright in collaboration with Dr Neil Vaughan and Dr Venkitesh Dubey from the Faculty of Science of Technology, and follows successful presentations^{1 2} by the team on virtual-reality training in orthopaedics in July 2015 at the IEEE Technically Sponsored Science and Information Conference in London, and funding received by Neil Vaughan from the Wessex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN).

It is an important paper as it is the first to review the literature on virtual reality based training simulators for hip, knee and other orthopaedic surgery, including elective and trauma surgical procedures.   It highlights the benefits and drawbacks of using virtual reality simulators and finds that in general the use of patient-specific virtual models is increasing, although further developments are needed to bring hip replacement training simulation in line with other procedures.

1. Vaughan N, Dubey V, Middleton R, Wainwright T. Does virtual-reality training on orthopaedic simulators improve performance in the operating room? In: IEEE Technically Sponsored Science and Information Conference 28-30 July 2015 London.
2. Vaughan N, Dubey V, Middleton R, Wainwright T. Can virtual-reality simulators assess experience and skill level of orthopaedic surgeons? In: IEEE Technically Sponsored Science and Information Conference 28-30 July 2015 London.