Laparoscopic simulator

1. An apparatus for laparoscopic surgical training,

comprising:

a physical simulator unit;

a physical tissue model; and

a computing and display unit;

 wherein the physical simulator unit comprises at least one side wall and a removable internal base plate;

 wherein the side wall comprises:

a central opening through which a camera is arranged to view the removable internal base plate; and

two or more laparoscopic surgical tools entry openings;

wherein the internal base plate is arranged to hold the physical tissue model in the camera's field of view and in a position accessible to laparoscopic surgical tools when inserted in the two or more laparoscopic surgical tools entry openings; and

 wherein the computing and display unit is arranged to acquire video data from the camera and signal data from the physical tissue model, and to then utilize the data sets to generate and display in real-time a customized mixed reality or augmented video;

 wherein the video data acquired by the camera is augmented in real-time and displayed in the computing and display unit to simulate the video feed of a real laparoscopic surgery;

 wherein the physical tissue model comprises tissue mimicking material embedded with internal wiring and sensors arranged to be connected to electronic circuitry, which is further connected to the computing and display unit;

 wherein an electrical connection check between the internal wiring and the electronic circuitry is performed upon start-up of the apparatus;

 wherein when cutting through the physical tissue model, with the laparoscopic surgical tools by a user, and the internal wiring is cut, an open circuit is identified by the signal data acquisition and the computing and display unit, which then triggers and generates an augmented representation of bleeding in the area of the cut, thus augmenting the video feed acquired by the camera, and a merged video is displayed in the computing and display unit, thus simulating a real-life surgical event;

 wherein the cutting of the physical tissue model with the laparoscopic surgical tools is augmented in real-time and displayed in the computing and display unit via overlaying digital textures on the physical tissue model and via acquiring, processing and displaying the video data and the signal data; and

 wherein the open circuit of the internal wiring prompts the user to rectify the bleed by using the laparoscopic surgical tools to tie off the cut wiring, reestablishing an electrical connection with the electronic circuitry and thus turning off the bleeding trigger.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the angle on the camera's principal axis is arranged to be perpendicular to the plane of the internal base plate.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the angle on the camera's principal axis is substantially at 30 degrees to the plane of the side wall.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the internal base plate is at an incline, which imaginary continuation plane is substantially at 30 degrees to the plane of the side wall.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the internal base plate comprises a pigmented silicone background, which background is then used in the augmented video to project multiple backgrounds onto the surface during different procedures that occur in several regions of the body.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the physical tissue model is replaceable and reconnectable to the circuitry, and wherein the physical tissue model is arranged to represent various human or animal tissue shapes, sizes and consistency, and the computing and display unit is programmable to represent an augmented video compatible with said tissue.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the camera is arranged to track and extract data of the displacement of the physical tissue model, which data is then used to generate visual representations of said tissue in the augmented video.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the camera is arranged to track and extract data of three dimensional movements of the laparoscopic surgical tools inserted in the surgical tools entry openings, which data is then used to generate visual representations of the laparoscopic surgical tools in the augmented video.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein two or more cameras are arranged to acquire stereoscopic depth related information from their field of view.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the camera is in a camera housing, which housing further comprises lighting arranged to illuminate the inside of the physical simulator unit, wherein the lighting is arranged to enhance or discard for the camera elements of the physical tissue model, the background or of the laparoscopic tools.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the physical simulator unit is in the shape of a box and comprises a top panel, a bottom panel, two parallel fixed side panels, two further side panels which are removable and parallel to each other; and wherein the side wall is the top panel.

12. A method for laparoscopic surgical training,

comprising the steps of:

holding a physical tissue model in a camera's field of view and in a position accessible to laparoscopic surgical tools;

acquiring video data from the camera and signal data from the physical tissue model;

generating and displaying in real-time a customized mixed reality or augmented video from the video and the signal data;

wherein the physical tissue model comprises tissue mimicking material embedded with internal wiring and sensors arranged to be connected to electronic circuitry, which is further connected to a computing and display unit;

augmenting the video data acquired by the camera in real-time and displaying in the computing and display unit to simulate the video feed of a real laparoscopic surgery;

wherein an electrical connection check between the internal wiring and the electronic circuitry is performed upon start-up of the apparatus;

wherein when cutting through the physical tissue model, with the laparoscopic surgical tools by a user, and the internal wiring is cut, an open circuit is identified by the signal data acquisition and the computing and display unit, which then triggers and generates an augmented representation of bleeding in the area of the cut, thus generating in real-time a customized video augmentation to the video feed acquired by the camera; and

merging and displaying the video augmentation and the video feed in the computing and display unit, thus simulating a real-life surgical event;

wherein the cutting the physical tissue model with the laparoscopic surgical tools is augmented in real-time and displayed in the computing and display unit via overlaying digital textures on the physical tissue model and via acquiring, processing and displaying the video data and the signal data; and

wherein the open circuit of the internal wiring prompts the user to rectify the bleed by using the laparoscopic surgical tools to tie off the cut wiring, reestablishing an electrical connection with the electronic circuitry and thus turning off the bleeding trigger.