Toshihiro Mashiko1, Naoki Kaneko2, Takehiko Konno2, Keisuke Otani3, Rie Nagayama2, Eiju Watanabe2. 1. Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke Tochigi, Japan. Electronic address: mashiko@jichi.ac.jp. 2. Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke Tochigi, Japan. 3. Department of Neurosurgery, Aomori Prefectural Central Hospital, Aomori, Japan.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Recently, there have been increasingly fewer opportunities for junior surgeons to receive on-the-job training. Therefore, we created custom-built three-dimensional (3D) surgical simulators for training in connection with cerebral aneurysm clipping. METHODS: Three patient-specific models were composed of a trimmed skull, retractable brain, and a hollow elastic aneurysm with its parent artery. The brain models were created using 3D printers via a casting technique. The artery models were made by 3D printing and a lost-wax technique. Four residents and 2 junior neurosurgeons attended the training courses. The trainees retracted the brain, observed the parent arteries and aneurysmal neck, selected the clip(s), and clipped the neck of an aneurysm. The duration of simulation was recorded. A senior neurosurgeon then assessed the trainee's technical skill and explained how to improve his/her performance for the procedure using a video of the actual surgery. Subsequently, the trainee attempted the clipping simulation again, using the same model. After the course, the senior neurosurgeon assessed each trainee's technical skill. The trainee critiqued the usefulness of the model and the effectiveness of the training course. RESULTS: Trainees succeeded in performing the simulation in line with an actual surgery. Their skills tended to improve upon completion of the training. CONCLUSION: These simulation models are easy to create, and we believe that they are very useful for training junior neurosurgeons in the surgical techniques needed for cerebral aneurysm clipping.
INTRODUCTION: Recently, there have been increasingly fewer opportunities for junior surgeons to receive on-the-job training. Therefore, we created custom-built three-dimensional (3D) surgical simulators for training in connection with cerebral aneurysm clipping. METHODS: Three patient-specific models were composed of a trimmed skull, retractable brain, and a hollow elastic aneurysm with its parent artery. The brain models were created using 3D printers via a casting technique. The artery models were made by 3D printing and a lost-wax technique. Four residents and 2 junior neurosurgeons attended the training courses. The trainees retracted the brain, observed the parent arteries and aneurysmal neck, selected the clip(s), and clipped the neck of an aneurysm. The duration of simulation was recorded. A senior neurosurgeon then assessed the trainee's technical skill and explained how to improve his/her performance for the procedure using a video of the actual surgery. Subsequently, the trainee attempted the clipping simulation again, using the same model. After the course, the senior neurosurgeon assessed each trainee's technical skill. The trainee critiqued the usefulness of the model and the effectiveness of the training course. RESULTS: Trainees succeeded in performing the simulation in line with an actual surgery. Their skills tended to improve upon completion of the training. CONCLUSION: These simulation models are easy to create, and we believe that they are very useful for training junior neurosurgeons in the surgical techniques needed for cerebral aneurysm clipping.
Keywords:
3D model; 3D printing; Medical Knowledge; Practice-Based Learning; Systems-Based Practice; aneurysm clipping; cerebral aneurysm; simulator; simulator training