Virtual reality applications for computer aided design and advanced manufacture of medical devices

Modern design and manufacture engineering technologies, such as Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE), image processing and 3D reconstruction, reverse engineering (RE), robotics and computer vision, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), and advanced manufacturing systems such as additive manufacturing (AM), have been created and developed to assist industry. However, the use of these modern engineering technologies in medical applications for the delivery of human healthcare has significantly increased in the last three decades. As a consequence, Engineering Assisted Surgery (EAS) has been introduced as a new research and development field and is defined as the application of engineering and manufacturing technologies in the delivery of healthcare [1]. EAS comprises data acquisition from computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imagining (MRI), 3D scanners, CAD systems, and Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The aim is to enhance healthcare processes through digital technologies and systems. Typical applications of engineering technologies in medicine include the visualization and reconstruction of human anatomy; organ and tissue modelling; surgical simulators for planning and training; robotic
surgery; locomotion and gait analysis; and the design and manufacture of prosthesis, ortheses, implants, biomodels, scaffolds, training models, and surgical aids and tools.