Apparatus and mechanism for simulating medical procedures and methods

A medical procedure simulator for simulating a medical treatment or procedure, said medical procedure simulator comprising:

• a handpiece with a proximal end and a distal end,
• said handpiece being configured to be manipulated by a user in a workspace in real space,
• a haptic arm controlled by a computer that is configured to simulate a medical procedure or treatment through haptic feedback, preferably haptic force feedback, to said handpiece with said haptic arm,
• wherein
• a mechanism connected to said proximal end of said handpiece and connected to said haptic arm at a connection position on said haptic arm,
• said mechanism comprising a first parallel four-bar linkage coupled to a second parallel four-bar linkage,
• said mechanism being configured to allow said handpiece to rotate about three orthogonal axes that intersect through a common point in said workspace, and
• said common point being a fixed position relative to said connection position (59) so that said common point moves in unison with said connection position.