Low cost silicone renal replicas for surgical training - technical note

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Medical Simulation
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Laparoscopic surgery, particularly nephron-sparing procedures, requires extensive training.
• High-fidelity surgical simulators are crucial for developing surgical skills.
• Cost-effective training models are needed to improve accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present and evaluate a workflow for creating affordable, individualized silicone kidney replicas.
• To enable surgical simulation of difficult nephron-sparing surgeries.
• To assess the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the developed technique.

Main Methods:

• A four-step workflow: image segmentation, casting mold design, mold manufacturing, and silicone replica casting.
• Utilized 3D printing for mold fabrication.
• Prepared 5 silicone models from patient data for laparoscopic kidney tumor surgery.

Main Results:

• The process involves image segmentation (94 min), mold design (22 min), mold printing (14 h), and silicone casting (30 min).
• Manufacturing costs for the mold and silicone replica were approximately $14.40 and $7.40, respectively.
• The silicone models accurately replicated the shape, elasticity, and mechanical strength of living organs.

Conclusions:

• The technique is simple, cost-effective, and requires only basic 3D printing equipment.
• The resulting silicone kidney replicas are suitable for simulating complex surgical procedures.
• This method can be adapted for creating other artificial organs for surgical training and simulation.