Although medical simulators have benefited from the use of haptics and virtual reality (VR) for decades, the former has become the bottleneck in producing a low-cost, compact, and accurate training experience. This is particularly the case for the inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) procedure in dentistry, which is one of the most difficult motor skills to acquire. As existing works are still oversimplified or overcomplicated for practical deployment, we introduce an origami-based haptic syringe interface for IANB local anesthesia training. By harnessing the versatile mechanical tunability of the Kresling origami pattern, our interface simulated the tactile experience of the plunger while injecting the anesthetic solution. We present the design, development, and characterization process, as well as a preliminary usability study. The force profile generated by the syringe interface is perceptually similar with that of the Carpule syringe. The usability study suggests that the haptic syringe significantly improves the IANB training simulation and its potential to be utilized in several other medical training/simulation applications.

中文翻译：

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用于局部麻醉模拟器的基于折纸的触觉注射器


尽管医疗模拟器几十年来一直受益于触觉和虚拟现实 (VR) 的使用，但前者已成为产生低成本、紧凑且准确的训练体验的瓶颈。牙科中的下牙槽神经阻滞 (IANB) 手术尤其如此，这是最难获得的运动技能之一。由于现有工作对于实际部署来说仍然过于简单或过于复杂，我们引入了一种基于折纸的触觉注射器接口，用于 IANB 局部麻醉培训。通过利用 Kresling 折纸图案的多功能机械可调性，我们的界面模拟了注射麻醉溶液时柱塞的触觉体验。我们介绍了设计、开发和表征过程，以及初步的可用性研究。注射器接口产生的力分布在感知上与 Carpule 注射器的力分布类似。可用性研究表明，触觉注射器显着改善了 IANB 培训模拟及其在其他几种医疗培训/模拟应用中的潜力。