Fracture Reduction Simulator

Prof.Thomas and his lab have developed a novel simulation platform to train andevaluate orthopedic resident surgical skills, including fracture reduction.  The proposed simulation is a more precisemethod of evaluating orthopedic residency students.  This technology includes a physical fracturemodel, which is comprised of a synthetic bone fracture model buried within asynthetic soft tissue model.  Thesesynthetic soft tissues contain electromagnetic tracking systems that displayvirtual X-ray images to a laptop screen for analysis.  For this training model, the student mustre-assemble bone fragments into the correct alignment using specializedsurgical tools to manipulate the fragments.  Virtual X-rays monitor the fragment locationsthroughout the process to ensure the orthopedic student has the bone modelaligned correctly.

USA