The precise hand-to-eye coordination displayed by physicians in the field of interventional radiology and urology take years of continuous practice to master and it is currently widely accepted for new trainees to immediately start training on real patients to achieve such expertize. Although practicing on patients is to be expected eventually, we believe costly mistakes made by inexperienced operators can be minimized by training on high fidelity simulation models. We offer an affordable yet detailed 3D-replica of a human kidney suitable for such simulation training to allow learning without compromizing patient safety.
Percutaneous nephrostomy catheter insertation
Core and fine needle kidney biopsy performance
Renal calyx endoscopic assessment
The kidney phantom and the tissue mimicking materials surrounding it are made from a variety of in-house developed gelatin mixtures that closely imitate human tissue consistency and elastic properties. To offer likelife simulation conditions, the kidney phantom is suspended in muscle tissue-mimicking gelatin covered by peelable opaque artificial skin layer.
Our kidney phantom features hollow renal calyces moulded into its inner structure which can easily be filled with saline or colored liquids. Because each calyx is independantly connected to its outer reservoir, it possible to use different colored liquids to instantly distinguish whether the operator has punctured the desired calyx. The kidney phantom comes shipped with 2 free different packages of colored liquids.
Our kidney phantom features 6 calyces of different sizes (5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm i.e. 0.19’’, 0.39’’ and 0.59’’ in diameter; 2 of each) to offer multiple training scenarios of various difficulty. In addition, the kidney phantom can be ordered with 2 spherical colored tumor simulations formed into its surface suitable for needle biopsy training.
The gelatin mixtures used in our kidney phantom have been specially designed and calibrated to display realistic ultrasound propagation speed, attenuation and radiodensity needed to showcase human tissue-like ultrasonography signal under probe examination.
The design of our kidney phantom is based on scientifically validated data and multidisciplinary team work, including interventional residents. Our research is published in peer-reviewed journals European Journal of Radiology and Acta Radiologica.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23394766
doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2012.12.020
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25298868
doi: 10.1177/2047981614534231
Our kidney phantom is encased in a rugged hardshell cover which makes it suitable for transportation and compact storaging. The kidney phantom’s inner gelatin contents have been prototyped with durability in mind and have been shown to sustain up to 200 fine needle punctures without significantly compromising ultrasonography signal quality and tactile feedback. The gelatin content is biodegradable and can be disposed cleanly after the kidney phantom has served its purpose.
The design of the kidney is not set in stone meaning the amount and size of the calyces plus the outer shape and the dimensions of the kidney can be changed to meet your specifications.
The kidney phantom is delivered worldwide without additional cost to you.