Haptic System for Nasogastric Tube Placement Training

Nasogastric tube (NGT) placement is an essential clinical procedure for feeding, drainage or emptying. However, it is a blind process that misplacement can lead to unexpected complications or fatal incidents. The techniques are conventionally acquired by practising on static rubber mannequins. An interactive and intelligent training system is proposed for learning NGT insertion in a realistic computer simulated virtual environment. It simulates real human anatomy, interactions between NGT and the passage, tactile feeling during intubation, as well as patient’s response to provide high level of realism in the training.