Virtual Spinal Tap: using haptic data to learn procedures with feel

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Distributed medical education programs have trouble providing suitable resources for certain forms of clinical training. Certain procedures are harder to learn because watching a skilled practitioner tells the learner little. Using a dual-control haptic device interface, and anatomically accurate virtual spinal models, we were able to create a Virtual Spinal Tap to improve the verisimilitude of an online learning experience. The devices and interfaces provided the means to measure and reproduce the subtle forces involved in a procedure that is learned by feel. Integration of this model with other simulation modalities would enhance its applicability.