Feasibility of an endovascular training and research environment with exchangeable patient specific 3D printed vascular anatomy: Simulator with exchangeable patient-specific 3D-printed vascular anatomy for endovascular training and research

Abstract

Purpose: Endovascular interventions have become standard procedures for the therapy of abdominal aortic aneurysms. Therefore, endovascular surgeons need special skills which have to be learned and trained. Additionally, authentic simulators are needed for further development of new endovascular devices and procedures. The aim of this project was to develop an authentic and modular endovascular simulation environment with patient-specific vascular anatomy for training and research purposes.

Material and methods: We first designed a prototype with exchangeable 3D-printed patient-specific vascular anatomy. Then, the feasibility of the prototype was validated by a simulation of an EVAR procedure in a clinical setting.

Results: We developed an authentic endovascular simulator with an exchangeable patient-specific vascular anatomy and performed an EVAR procedure under realistic conditions. The evaluation of the accuracy of the vascular models showed little deviation when compared with the original CT data.

Conclusion: Endovascular simulators based on patient-specific 3D-printed vascular models can realistically mimic endovascular procedures and have the potential to be used for further development of new devices and grafts as well as for training purposes. Furthermore, in our opinion they can reduce the use of animals during developmental processes.

Keywords: 3D printing; Endovascular simulator; Endovascular training; Exchangeable anatomy; Vascular anatomy.