In real laparoscopic surgury, a laparoscope ( a tiny video camera with light source), and laparoscopic tools are passed through two or three very small holes in patient's abdomen and surgeons manipulate tissues while watching what they are doing on monitor. This kind of surgery is also called minimally invasive surgery (MIS) because it is less traumatic than open surgery. On the other hand, it's hard for surgeons to operate the laparoscopic tools and laparoscope so they need to practice a lot before they could do the real laparoscopic surgery.

Computer based surgical simulation is a promising alternative for training medical students in surgical techniques. Surgeons can practice at any time on computer instead of animals. Virtual environments for training manipulative skills in laparoscopic surgery are now well established as research areas. A laparoscopic training environment (LTE) consists of electromechanical devices for surgeons to manipulate as laparoscopic tools, a computer graphic system to simulate the operation the surgeon is performing and a monitor system to evaluate the surgeon's performance. A LTE has been built in the Experimental Robotics Laboratory of SFU.