Haptic Feedback for Local Anesthesia Training

NYUAD Institute

This talk presents the design and development of a custom 3D printed haptic syringe interface aimed to augment a virtual reality local anesthesia simulation (VRLA) with realistic tactile feedback. The VRLA previously used an Oculus Quest 2 head mounted device (HMD) with out of the box hand controllers to immerse students in the simulation and complete the necessary tasks. One controller (with the dominant hand) was used to perform a local anesthesia injection with a virtual hand that held a virtual syringe. This was subsequently replaced with a custom 3D printed haptic syringe to simulate physical interactions between the syringe and the environment in an effort to enhance the students' training experience. A pilot research study investigating the effectiveness of the custom haptic syringe had positive outcomes. Speakers Mohamad Eid, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and former 19 Washington Square North Faculty Fellow, NYUAD Marci Levine, Clinical Associate Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, NYU College of Dentistry; Former 19 Washington Square North Faculty Fellow, NYUAD Elizabeth McAlpin, Director of Research and Outcomes Assessment, NYU IT Avinash Gyawali, Research Assistant, NYUAD In Collaboration with 19 Washington Square North Faculty Fellows Program