title: An initial evaluation of the Iowa Dental Surgical Simulator.
abstract: The University of Iowa colleges of dentistry and engineering are collaborating to build an effective but low-cost surgical simulator that uses force feedback to teach and assess the tactile skills of dentistry. A prototype simulator was built, and a formative evaluation examined the realism of the haptics and identified directions for future work. Using a cross-over design, twelve experienced practitioners probed two virtual teeth using two instruments attached to the force feedback device. The session was videotaped, the forces recorded, and a standardized questionnaire completed. Two analyses were conducted: an ANOVA examined practitioners' questionnaire responses, and a t-test analyzed the probing forces. Significant tooth order by instrument order interaction and instrument effects were found. Practitioners were generally satisfied. They preferred a standard joystick to an explorer, felt that two-dimensional graphics were sufficient, and emphasized that the existing vibration be eliminated. Random placement of caries should help teach generalized skills.
authors.affiliation: College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA. Lynn-Johnson@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dow
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stanford
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis; D003814:Dentistry, Operative / Q000193:education*; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D012985:Software Design; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014732:Vibration