Tracking of Needle Grip for the Augmented Reality Simulation of Vascular Injection

A specialized haptic interface is developed for an augmented reality (AR) simulation of vascular injection which can simulate the motion of the catheter hub and the needle grip. The motion of the catheter hub is directly detected by the haptic interface. The needle grip is detachable from the interface and often occluded under the user's holding hand. The displacement of the needle grip along the needle direction is estimated by tracking of the selected joint of the holding hand, combined with the readings of the sensor embedded in the haptic interface. A method to mitigate the visual artifacts caused by detection errors is also developed. The methods are evaluated by nurses carrying out the simulation.