Haptic force feedback technology has been used to create a virtual bovine reproductive tract, positioned inside a fibreglass model of the rear half of a cow. At the heart of the trainer is the PHANTOM haptic device from SensAble Technologies. This instrument makes it possible for users to touch and palpate virtual objects. In addition, because the cow’s organs are visible on the computer monitor, the instructor can see exactly what the student is doing and direct the movements - something that is very difficult with a real cow.

David Hendon, a business development manager at Virtalis, said: “We are extremely excited by this collaboration with Sarah and expect the Haptic Cow to become an international success. We are all familiar with the image of the vet struggling to help cows with tricky deliveries. There are also many other procedures that involve vets putting their hands inside horses and cattle, such as pregnancy diagnosis, fertility examinations and rectal examinations. However, until now, training has essentially, relied on vet students learning on the farm with the real cow. There are various drawbacks with this traditional method, the most obvious being that the trainer cannot see what the student is doing and cannot advise on how much pressure to apply. Additionally, there is the consideration of animal welfare during this type of training.”

Sarah Baillie explained: “I am a practising vet and have long struggled to teach vet students how to carry out rectal examinations on cows. It is so difficult to guide students when you can’t see what they are palpating inside the cow. Also, the students can’t see what I’m doing, so can’t copy. I was aware of the uses for haptics in the field of surgery following a project at Glasgow by Andy Crossan, who developed a Horse Ovary Palpation Simulator. I saw the opportunity to harness this technology to develop a trainer for farm animal work.”

A prototype simulator has been developed over several years and tests have been carried out to assess the effects of training with the Haptic Cow. An evaluation was conducted with two groups of vet students; one group had their training supplemented with a simulator session and another group received only traditional training. The students were then set the task of locating the uterus when examining cows for the first time and ultrasound was used to verify that the uterus had been identified correctly. The results showed that the performance of the simulator-trained group was significantly better than the traditionally-trained group. The simulator was then integrated into the curriculum at Glasgow Vet School and feedback from the students has been very positive.

Sarah Baillie continued: “A teaching protocol has been developed for use with the simulator which has a series of levels to support the progressive acquisition of palpatory skills. Novice students are trained to orientate in the 3D anatomical environment, to develop the correct exploratory technique and to identify key structures, such as the uterus and pelvic brim. More experienced students can use the simulator to reinforce, and further develop, their existing skills. A large number of models have been created representing different fertility cases, early and advanced pregnancies and examples of unusual and pathological conditions. The simulator-based training allows students to be trained to perform invasive procedures prior to examining real animals, which has benefits for animal welfare. Ongoing work is exploiting the potential of the technology further. For example, there are several new developments including a horse colic simulator, as well as a self-teaching version of the cow that students can use on their own.”

Virtalis is the reseller of the PHANTOM in the UK and developed its own medical trainer in the late 1990s, to assist surgeons learning and practicing laparoscopic keyhole surgery techniques. The use of medical simulation trainers generally has increased significantly in recent years, but the focus until now has been on humans rather than animals.

Haptic Cow Web Site: www.hapticcow.com
Sarah Baillie’s Web Site: www.live.ac.uk/html/team_bail.html
SensAble Web Site: www.sensable.com

Hi-res pictures:
 An instructor explains to a student what he "feels" inside the Haptic Cow (1.98 MB)
 A simulated session using the Haptic Cow with instructor, student and farmer (478.87 KB)
 Sarah Baillie conducts a training session on the Haptic Cow (763.02 KB)
 The Phantom from SensAble Technologies provides the force feedback in the Haptic Cow (1.24 MB)

PHANTOM, PHANTOM Desktop, PHANTOM Omni, SensAble, and SensAble Technologies, Inc. are trademarks or registered trademarks of SensAble Technologies, Inc. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective holders.