How to Add Force Feedback to a Surgery Simulator

Methods and fundamental considerations for adding force feedback to a surgery simulator are presented. As an example, the virtual endoscopic surgery trainer “VS-One”, developed at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, is taken. An overview on building a general interface to force feedback applications is given. Implementations and satellite modules of the simulation software KISMET are presented as the results. The concept and the implementations are found to be flexible, stable and for universal use. Conclusions are drawn from the results regarding actual and further developments.