Touch Surgery and Pacira Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:PCRX) launched the Exparel knee training simulation for the Touch Surgery app, designed to provide clinicians with a virtual training experience for administering the bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension in total knee arthroplasty.

The simulation includes a 3D environment where clinical decisions and viewpoints are all dictated by the user and simulates the total knee arthroplasty surgical environment. The goal of the training is to teach the user how to properly mix and inject Exparel into the surgical site. Users can manipulate the angle of the needle, the site of the injection and the amount of fluid ejected at the site.

“Physicians have never experienced a level of interactive training like what we’ve built with Pacira,” Touch Surgery co-founder, Dr. Jean Nehme said in prepared remarks. “Our first pharmaceutical based procedure, this is our most innovative simulation to date leveraging a custom built 3D learning engine.”

Pacira’s Exparel is a long-acting, local analgesic used to manage post-surgical pain and was commercially launched in the U.S. in April 2012. The Parsippany, N.J.-based company suggested that Exparel can help reduce patients’ post-surgical pain and opioid requirements. Pacira also markets DepoFoam, a product delivery technology that encapsulates drugs without altering their molecular structure for targeted and sustained release.