Cardiac Surgery Simulator with External Pumping System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cardiac surgery simulators lack the ability to realistically simulate minimally invasive procedures, are limited in their anatomical realism, and are inflexible, preventing the simulation of complex thoracic surgeries and cardiac valve procedures, while also being costly and time-consuming to prepare.
Innovation Solution
A cardiothoracic surgery simulator composed of a synthetic thorax with mobile joints, porcine tissue, and a sophisticated pumping system that mimics a beating heart, allowing for both classical and minimally invasive approaches, including simulations at the tricuspid and mitral valve levels, and enabling thoracic surgery procedures with reduced tissue preparation time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If intraventricular balloons are used to create cardiac movement, then the heart can move in a similar fashion to a live human heart, but the simulator cannot simulate procedures at the mitral or tricuspid valves because the balloons pass through these valves
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the intraventricular balloons from the system and replaces them with an external pumping system that connects to the ascending aorta. This extraction eliminates the obstruction at the valve level, allowing surgical procedures at the mitral and tricuspid valves to be simulated without interference from balloon structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an external pumping system with a reservoir and tubing as an intermediary mechanism. Instead of placing balloons inside the ventricles, the pump system mediates cardiac movement by connecting to the ascending aorta and creating pressure changes that simulate heartbeats, thereby avoiding interference with valve procedures.
2Adaptability or versatility
If porcine tissue is prepared in a specific way to simulate cardiac procedures, then cardiac level procedures can be simulated, but thoracic surgery procedures (pneumectomies, atypical resections) and cardiac transplant cannot be simulated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal simulator platform where the porcine tissue is prepared with multiple access points and configurations that allow it to serve multiple functions. The same tissue preparation supports not only cardiac procedures but also thoracic surgery procedures and cardiac transplant simulations, eliminating the need for separate specialized preparations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamic tissue preparation where the porcine tissue is configured with movable and adjustable components. The tissue can be dynamically reconfigured to accommodate different surgical approaches (classical and minimally invasive) and different procedure types (cardiac, thoracic, transplant), increasing versatility without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Device complexity
If a simulator is designed to simulate only classical approach procedures, then the simulation can be simpler, but minimally invasive approaches cannot be simulated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the simulator into modular components: the synthetic thorax with its skeleton and elastic material layer, the porcine tissue module, and the external pumping system. This segmentation allows different access points and incision types to be configured independently, enabling both classical and minimally invasive approaches to be simulated using the same base structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes in the synthetic thorax design, specifically in the mobility parameters of the costovertebral and sternocostal joints. By adjusting the mobility parameters, the simulator can accommodate different surgical approaches - from the full retraction needed for classical approaches to the limited access required for minimally invasive procedures.
4Adaptability or versatility
If virtual simulators are used to simulate complex surgical procedures, then a broader surgical context can be provided, but the level of realism is very low and the simulators are expensive and inflexible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the advantages of virtual simulators (broader surgical context) with physical tissue models (high realism). The synthetic thorax with mobile joints and elastic material provides a physical framework that maintains anatomical realism, while the configurable setup allows simulation of various surgical contexts and approaches, combining the benefits of both virtual and physical systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables comprehensive simulation of cardiac and thoracic surgery procedures through both classical and minimally invasive methods with enhanced realism, reducing preparation time and costs, and allowing for the simulation of a wide range of surgical techniques.
Implementation Method 1
an actuator 10, a piston cylinder 8 that acts as a pump, connected through tubing 11 to both ventricles of the heart, which pumps liquid in and out to and from the heart 7, creating the impression of a beating heart
Implementation Method 2
a variable pressure pump 9 and a reservoir 14, which, through tubing 18, pumps liquid in the ascending aorta 17, maintaining a constant pressure at this level and creating the impression of blood flow
Implementation Method 3
an air trap 13, mounted between the pump 8 and the heart 7 and two unidirectional valves, one for liquid 19 and one for air 20, mounted in series, on top of the air trap 13
Implementation Method 4
a synthetic thorax 1 anatomically similar to the human thorax, composed from a skeleton covered by a layer of elastic material
Data Source
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AI summary
Universal simulator used to practice techniques and procedures in cardiac surgery through classical and minimally invasive approaches at the heart level, or other interventions in the thoracic surgery field. The simulator is composed of a synthetic thorax (1) which has several incisions (6) with mobile costo-vertebral joints (2) and mobile sterno-costal joints (3), a sternum with a medium cut (4) and a transversal cut (5) at the level of the third intercostal space, a porcine tissue composed of heart (7), two lungs (21), ascending aorta (17), descending aorta (22) and trachea (23) and a pumping system composed of an actuator (10), a piston cylinder (8) connected through tubing (11) to the left and right ventricles of the heart, a variable pressure pump (9) which pumps liquid through tubing (18) into the ascending aorta (17), an air trap (13) mounted between the pump (8) and the heart (7) and two unidirectional valves (19 and 20) for liquid and air, mounted in series in the superior part of the air trap (13) and a reservoir (14) for liquid connected to the pumps (8 and 9) which pump liquid into and from the heart (7) and to the ascending aorta (17).