Apparatus for simulating insertion of an elongated instrument into a structure and medical insertion simulator

A medical insertion simulator comprising:

• an apparatus for simulating insertion of an elongated instrument attached to a tether into a structure, the apparatus comprising:
• a casing having an aperture for receiving the tether therethrough;
• a pulley having an outer tether receiving groove on a peripheral portion thereof and an anchoring element therein for anchoring a distal end of the tether extending through the aperture of the casing, the pulley being rotatably mounted in the casing for rotating in response to a pulling movement of the tether by a user;
• a sensing arrangement for sensing an angular position of the pulley representative of a relative longitudinal position of the elongated instrument attached to the tether in the structure;
• and
• a feedback force actuator connected to an axle of the pulley for applying an adjustable resistive force to a rotation of the pulley;
• the tether, the distal end of the tether being anchored to the anchoring element of the pulley and the elongated instrument being attached to the tether;
• a control unit for controlling the feedback force actuator;
• a processing unit for receiving the sensed angular position of the pulley and a model of a patient's internal structure and associated resistance characteristics of the structure, the processing unit further determining the adjustable resistive force to apply to the rotation of the pulley according to previously received information for operating the control unit, the processing unit further producing a visual display image of the patient's internal structure and movement of the elongated instrument attached to the tether therein;
• and
• a display unit for displaying the produced visual display image.