Implementation of a 3D position detection system for a medical simulator

BACKGOROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular disorders are increasing because of poor eating habits, excessive drinking, and lack of exercise. Some of the typical cardiovascular surgical procedures utilize catheters. Catheter-based procedures require the surgeons to have extensive experience and high proficiency at performing vascular interventions. However, the learning period to acquire such proficiency is lengthy and the opportunities for practical training and mastery are insufficient. Therefore, due to insufficient skill, dangerous situations with damage or rupture of the patient’s blood vessels may occur, thereby increasing the risk of medical accidents. Hence, it is necessary to have experience and proficiency for performing vascular interventions. Thus, it is necessary to develop a simulator to shorten learning time and reduce medical accidents. METHODS: In this study, we developed a position detection system for the simulator to use physical models to learn cardiovascular surgical intervention techniques. The developed system uses changes in the output values of a Hall sensor based on the position of a permanent magnet. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: From the changing output values, the distance calculation equation is derived, and the position of the permanent magnet is effectively estimated from the calculations. The performance of the position detecting system was tested, and the results proved that the system could be sufficiently used as a simulator.