Potential use of polydimethylsiloxane phantom in acupuncture manipulation practice

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Acupuncture Research

Background:

• Acupuncture proficiency requires extensive practice with realistic tissue phantoms.
• Current methods lack quantitative approaches for selecting effective acupuncture tissue mimics.
• Developing accurate tissue-mimicking phantoms is crucial for standardized acupuncture training and research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the optimal polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mixing ratio for creating tissue phantoms that accurately replicate porcine tissue mechanical properties during acupuncture.
• To establish a quantitative methodology for selecting superior tissue-mimicking materials for acupuncture simulation.

Main Methods:

• Four PDMS phantoms with varying elastomer/hardener ratios were fabricated.
• An automatic needle manipulator with a force/torque sensor measured interaction forces during simulated acupuncture.
• PDMS phantoms were compared to porcine tissue controls using visual analog scale ratings by medical practitioners.

Main Results:

• PDMS D (1:4.5 ratio) showed no significant difference in friction coefficients compared to porcine blade shoulder tissue during lifting-thrusting manipulations.
• PDMS D exhibited no significant difference in viscosity coefficients compared to all porcine controls during twirling manipulations.
• Practitioners rated PDMS D as providing the most similar haptic sensation to biological tissues.

Conclusions:

• PDMS D (1:4.5 ratio) effectively mimics the haptic feedback of biological tissues for both lifting-thrusting and twirling acupuncture techniques.
• This optimized PDMS phantom composition serves as a valuable tool for acupuncture simulation and training.
• The study provides a quantitative basis for selecting and preparing tissue phantoms for acu-needle research.