Surgical training aids and methods of fabrication thereof
AssigneeThe University of Western Ontario
InventorsLeonardo Millon, Wankei Wan, Mackenzie Quantz
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Abstract
The present invention provides surgical training aids formed from hydrogels and adapted to exhibit realistic mechanical properties mimicking those of real organs. Surgical training aids are preferably fabricated by subjecting a concentration of polyvinyl alcohol to freeze-thaw cycles in a mold designed to approximate the shape of an organ, and process parameters are selected to tailor the mechanical properties of the formed hydrogel to those of the organ simulated by the surgical aid. The mechanical properties of the hydrogel forming the surgical training aid may be tailored by incorporating bacterial cellulose and by applying strain during hydrogel formation, thereby producing controlled anisotropy.
Claims12
A method of producing a multilayer hydrogel, said method comprising the steps of:
- a) flowing a first volume of a first aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol into a mold;
- b) thermally cycling said solution through at least one freeze-thaw cycle to form a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel layer within said mold;
- c) flowing an additional volume of an additional aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol directly on top of the previously formed polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel layer;
- and
- e) thermally cycling said additional aqueous solution through at least one freeze-thaw cycle to form a multilayer polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel layer within said mold.
A multilayer anatomical model of an organ comprising a multilayered hydrogel, formed from multiple hydrogel layers, wherein each hydrogel layer of said multilayered hydrogel is directly adhered to an adjacent hydrogel layer, and is configured to approximate at least one mechanical property of a corresponding layer of said organ.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.