Hey folks, just been chatting with urology nurses at work and wondering if anyone has or knows of medical models that could be 3D printed? Specifically something staff can practice putting a catheter in. I’m hoping there is something about so I don’t have to sculpt a whole model
Not for that, but I printed a model of the brachial plexus to teach about nerve blocks. I also made a small section of a spine to explain epidurals and subarachnoid blocks to patients.
One thing that comes to mind would be material for practice. You might need special filament to make it “realistic”?
If you’re looking for a scale model of the organ system, that should exist and hopefully others know more :)
I suspect the most useful approach is to print a mold and cast using soft resin of some sort.
Yep this. 3d print works great for silicon casting
And to cast it soft too.
Needs a stiff core.
For, uh, reasons.
I don’t think realistic texture is all that important. Most of the practice is more about the technique and maintaining sterility throughout.
Just to clarify, you don’t care about the sterility of specific part? Fdm prints in particular can’t be kept sterile.
I assume you need it to be flexible-ish at the very least, which you might achieve with TPU, but I still say mold casting is the way to go.
The part itself don’t need to be sterile. The important part is maintaining sterile technique, which is the main issue with catheters due to the area involved and the amount of tubing that goes in.
Whether or not the stuff is actually sterile doesn’t matter.
Exactly this. It sounds like OP wants it to be an instructional aid. It does not need to be sterile, the people practicing need to practice how to don sterile gloves, then drape and prep the site sterilly and insert the catheter correctly.
Sorry for the slow reply, I posted that while on lunch.
The thought was more to use the model as a teaching aid, a few of our patients go home with a catheter and its easier to demonstrate on a model rather than just images and explaining it, we have “Harry” who is an abdomen with genitals, but don’t have a female model. I can see my search history is about to get super interesting.
It wouldn’t need to be sterile at all, it’s just a teaching tool for patients before they are discharged home. Showing exactly where things go and why is much easier to understand when you can see it, an absolute ideal model would be a cross section.
A company in the US does it. Can’t remember it’s name.
They are manufacturing realistic models (including “blood”) for doctors to practice complicated operations. As a data source, they use imaging from the patient.
A major part of their business is the knowledge what resins they need to use (realistic feeling and cut).
That sounds really cool, I’ll have to research that just for myself.
Urological models don’t seem to be common (you can get bones, hearts, and a few other organs from the US NIH, though). However, one of the things I did turn up in a quick web search was several mentions of software that can be used to turn medical imaging data (MRI, possibly others) into models for printing. It’s usually used for setting up individualized treatment plans. Maybe what you need is a former patient who’s had the appropriate regions scanned and might be willing to release the data to you for such a purpose.
Yes, I did that for a surgeon.
I used 3D Slicer, a Foss program that can turn medical imagery into 3d models.
The image my co-worker pulled up wasn’t super detailed, she wants something that can be shown to new staff and patients just so you get an idea of where the urethra and bladder is and how close they are to the vagina.
Then for the male one, just to show how to hold the penis while inserting the catheter. This one will be more of a challenge since it needs to flex, the female one I might have to just model and hope for the best
There are a few directions you could go in to have the print flex: print from flexible material (although I’m not sure that even the softest grade of Ninjaflex would be flexible enough), or, as someone has already suggested, create a mold for silicone casting. Or, in the worst case, modify one of those sectioned print-in-place flexible snake models, although the result won’t be as realistic.
I was hesitating to suggest this, but do you think you could usefully modify a realistic dildo model? Cults3D probably has a few—I think they’re the only major repository with a sex toy section.
I’ll have to speak to them a bit more to work out exactly how detailed they need or want the model. If it’s just the female model, that won’t be awfully difficult, I can sculpt something if I absolutely have to with my beyond basic skills lol
They really wanted the cross section to be able to show where the device sits and explain in better detail the operation that was done.
Stratasys’ J850 totally has this capability. Full color printing with variable durometer elastomers.
Thank you, I’ll check them out also.
