A do-it-yourself 3D-printed thoracic spine model for anesthesia resident simulation

Abstract

Central line placement, cricothyroidotomy, and lumbar epidural placement are common procedures for which there are simulators to help trainees learn the procedures. However, a model or a simulator for thoracic epidurals is not commonly used by anesthesia training programs to help teach the procedure. This brief technical report aims to share the design and fabrication process of a low-cost and do-it-yourself (DIY) 3D-printed thoracic spine model. Ten expert anesthesiology attendings and fifteen novice anesthesiology residents practiced with the model and were subsequently surveyed to assess their attitudes towards its fidelity and usefulness as a teaching tool. Responses were recorded with a Likert scale and found to be positive for both groups. Design files and an assembly manual were developed and made public through an open-source website.

The Role of 3D Printing in Planning Complex Medical Procedures and Training of Medical Professionals—Cross-Sectional Multispecialty Review

“…The production cost of the model was around USD 40 and was significantly lower than that of commercially available products. The fabrication time of the 3D-printed phantom was 14 h, and the hands-on build time of 5 h. In order to contribute experience and implement ideas of collaborative effort in the wider community, the authors released 3D printer files and an assembly manual through an open-source website [ 152 ]. Similarly, Odom et al developed a 3D lumbar spine model for training palpate and ultrasound-guided lumbar punctures.…”

3D-Printed Disease Models for Neurosurgical Planning, Simulation, and Training

“…Patient-specific templates for the guidance of instrumentation are another active field of the application of 3D printing technology in spine surgery. However, a standardized model of spinal disease has been actively developed relatively recently and is well utilized in training and education [ 5 - 7 , 9 , 15 , 16 , 38 , 79 , 110 ].…”

Skill Assessment of an Epidural Anesthesia Using the PeriSIM Simulator

“…Recent improvments of numeric technology allows to develop more complete simulators. Some of them are commercially available [7], [8] and others are still in development or open-source [9], [10]. No epidural simulator uses two technologies (haptic and pneumatic) to simulate both tissue resistance and syringe loss of resistance.…”