Robo-simulator trains shaky new surgeons

A teaching method that allows novice med students to instantly move with the same dexterity as the world's most seasoned surgeons sounds like the kind of science fiction quackery that'd get patients killed. But it's real. Acting as a virtual master surgeon, an advanced software program called HoST (Hands on surgical training) can use a robotic surgical simulator to physically guide the hands of novice surgeons in the exact same movements utilized by experienced surgeons to perform extremely complex operations. The RoSS (Robotic Surgical Simulator) simulates the operations of the only robotic surgical system in existence, the da Vinci, and the new HoST software takes it to the next level by using augmented reality based real-time operative scenarios and a form of haptic feedback to help the trainee "feel" the movements made by an experienced surgeon.