614 Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 29 Virtual Reality for Supporting Surgical Planning Sandra Leal University Hospitals‘Virgen del Rocío’, Spain Cristina Suarez University Hospitals‘Virgen del Rocío’, Spain J. M. Framinan University of Seville, Spain Carlos Luis Parra University Hospitals‘Virgen del Rocío’, Spain Tomás Gómez University Hospitals ‘Virgen del Rocío’, Spain Purifcación Gacto University Hospitals ‘Virgen del Rocío’, Spain J. M. De La Higuera University Hospitals ‘Virgen del Rocío’, Spain ABSTRACT Nowadays many surgical procedures are still carried out based on the skills and manual dexterity of each surgeon. The complexity and variability of the operations (very dependent on anatomical and functional personal characteristics), the diffculty of sharing and transferring the acquired knowledge, and the problems for surgeons to train in a realistic context make up a very complex scenario. In this sense, Virtual Reality (VR) provide supporting for surgical training and planning. VR permits modeling, simulation and visualization techniques using 3-D, anatomical predictive models, which are based on realistic models of tissues and organs. The usage of these technologies as a support for surgical planning results in a reduction of the uncertainty in the surgical process, a decrease in the risks for the patients, as well as an improvement of the results. This chapter presents a case of study of a Virtual Reality tool for supporting surgical planning, called VirSSPA, that has been already successfully applied in the University Hospital “Virgen del Rocio” (Seville-Spain). DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61520-670-4.ch029