TY - JOUR
T1 - Advanced Manufacturing in the Fabrication of a Lifelike Brain Glioblastoma Simulator for the Training of Neurosurgeons
AU - Chen, Pin Chuan
AU - Yang, Yu Wen
AU - Lin, Jang Chun
AU - Liu, Wei Hsiu
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by Ministry of Science and Technology with grant numbers of MOST 110-2628-E-011-006, the Mechanical Engineering Department of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), and Tri-Service General Hospital with grant number of TSGH-E111226 to W.-H.L., MOST 109-2314-B-016-016-MY2 to W.-H.L. and MOST 110-2314-B-038-149 to J.-C.L.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/3/1
Y1 - 2022/3/1
N2 - Neurosurgeons require considerable expertise and practical experience to deal with the critical situations commonly encountered in complex surgical operations such as cerebral cancer; however, trainees in neurosurgery seldom have the opportunity to develop these skills in the operating room. Physical simulators can give trainees the experience they require. In this study, we adopted advanced molding and replication techniques in the fabrication of a physical simulator for use in practicing the removal of cerebral tumors. Our combination of additive manufacturing and molding technology with elastic material casting made it possible to create a simulator that realistically mimics the skull, brain stem, soft brain lobes, and cerebral cancer with cerebral tumors located precisely where they are likely to appear. Multiple and systematic experiments were conducted to prove that the elastic material used herein was appropriated for building professional medical physical simulator. One neurosurgical trainee reported that under the guidance of a senior neurosurgeon, the physical simulator helped to elucidate the overall process of cerebral cancer removal and provided a realistic impression of the tactile feelings involved in craniotomy. The trainee also learned how to make decisions when facing the infiltration of a cerebral tumor into normal brain lobes. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed physical simulator in preparing trainees for the rigors involved in performing highly delicate surgical operations.
AB - Neurosurgeons require considerable expertise and practical experience to deal with the critical situations commonly encountered in complex surgical operations such as cerebral cancer; however, trainees in neurosurgery seldom have the opportunity to develop these skills in the operating room. Physical simulators can give trainees the experience they require. In this study, we adopted advanced molding and replication techniques in the fabrication of a physical simulator for use in practicing the removal of cerebral tumors. Our combination of additive manufacturing and molding technology with elastic material casting made it possible to create a simulator that realistically mimics the skull, brain stem, soft brain lobes, and cerebral cancer with cerebral tumors located precisely where they are likely to appear. Multiple and systematic experiments were conducted to prove that the elastic material used herein was appropriated for building professional medical physical simulator. One neurosurgical trainee reported that under the guidance of a senior neurosurgeon, the physical simulator helped to elucidate the overall process of cerebral cancer removal and provided a realistic impression of the tactile feelings involved in craniotomy. The trainee also learned how to make decisions when facing the infiltration of a cerebral tumor into normal brain lobes. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed physical simulator in preparing trainees for the rigors involved in performing highly delicate surgical operations.
KW - Brain simulator
KW - Cerebral cancer surgery practice
KW - Neurosurgeon surgical simulator
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U2 - 10.3390/polym14061072
DO - 10.3390/polym14061072
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85126337113
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 14
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 6
M1 - 1072
ER -