Abstract
The continual development of surgical technology has led to a demand for surgical simulators for evaluating and improving the surgical technique of surgeons. To meet these needs, simulators must incorporate a sensing function into the organ model for evaluating the surgical techniques. However, it is difficult to incorporate a temperature sensor into the conventional cardiac training model. In this study, we propose a heart model for surgical training of cardiac catheter ablation made from hydrogel, which has temperature memory properties. The heart model consists of a photo-crosslinkable hydrogel mixed with an irreversible temperature indicator that exhibits a color change from magenta to colorless at 55 °C. The Young’s modulus, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and specific heat capacity of the hydrogel material were evaluated and compared with those of human heart. Furthermore, temperature calibration based on the color of the hydrogel material confirmed that the temperature measurement accuracy of the material is ±0.18 °C (at 56 °C). A heart model for catheter ablation was fabricated using the hydrogel material and a molding method, and the color change due to temperature change was evaluated.
Highlights
Progress in medical technology and surgical instruments must be supported by the high surgical skill of surgeons
From the results of the tensile test using four specimens made of the hydrogel material, shown in Table 1, the Young’s modulus was measured to be 20.0 ± 3.3 kPa, which is similar to the value of human heart from the literature shown in Table 2 [20,21,22]
We developed a hydrogel heart model that reproduces the Young’s modulus, electrical resistivity, and thermal characteristics of human heart tissue for surgical training of catheter ablation
Summary
Progress in medical technology and surgical instruments must be supported by the high surgical skill of surgeons For this reason, there is a growing need for an artificial organ model and surgical simulator for developing surgical skills [1,2,3]. Artificial organ models have several advantages over other surgical simulators, such as no ethical issues and the possibility of simulating structures and properties similar to those of the target organ. The integration of measurement functions into artificial organ models without sacrificing the similarity of the structures and properties to those of the target is a promising approach to improving the quality of surgical training by giving quantitative evaluation of the skill of the surgeon or the properties of the surgical instruments [13]
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