2015 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 20-26
BACKGROUND: Subarachnoid hemorrhages may occur spontaneously from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. The placement of clips around the neck of the aneurysm (clipping) is one of the very common surgical treatments. However, clipping is a challenging surgery for most neurosurgeons. To help support the surgeon’s decision-making process and preoperative surgical planning, we developed a VR clipping simulator (ClipSim).
METHODS: High definition 3DCG models such as aneurysms, arteries, and brain were segmented by Amira® software (FEI, Hillsboro, OR) and surgical clips were modeled by Maya® software (Autodesk, San Rafael, CA). These models were integrated and simulated into Unity® (Unity Technologies, San Francisco, CA) software.
RESULTS: We successfully developed a real-time, interactive, clipping simulator with an aneurysm deformable model used by PhysX real-time physics engine (Ageia, Santa Clara, CA). In conclusion, the simulator may be useful prior to surgery during the surgeon’s decision making process for selecting the most appropriate clips.
