Haptic simulator for liver diagnostics through palpation.

Mechanical properties of biological tissue for both histological and pathological considerations are often required in disease diagnostics. Such properties can be simulated and explored with haptic technology. Development of cost effective haptic-based simulators and their introduction in the minimally invasive surgery learning cycle is still in its infancy. Receiving pre-training in a core set of surgical skills can reduce skill acquisition time and risks. We present the development of a visuo-haptic simulator module designed to train internal organs disease diagnostics through palpation. The module is part of a set of tools designed to train and improve basic surgical skills for minimally invasive surgery.