| Medical simulation technology is becoming more advanced and clinic-representative. Consequently, a shift in the initial training of residents away from the patients is beginning. Medical training for endovascular procedures is no different; simulators are becoming more popular and economical as alternatives to animal training. More recently, physical simulators that can provide superior haptic feedback of the endovascular procedures and devices are becoming available; this technology is especially useful for training physicians to perform interventional procedures for stroke treatment in the tortuous anatomy of the human cerebrovasculature. The novel clot material developed in this study was generated from Gak and Borax, and it was injected into a patient-representative, silicone vascular model to simulate acute ischemic stroke. The novel clot material was compared to clinically-retrieved clot, and it was determined that the novel clot material with a 4.5% Borax concentration was the softest and represented what physicians might expect clinically. A large vessel occlusion model was designed to simulate an embolism at the middle cerebral artery. The clot was injected into the patient-representative model using a 7F introducer, which provided the smallest clot that would cause an occlusion. The clot was successfully retrieved using a Solitaire FR Revascularization Device, and the simulation of a mechanical thrombectomy procedure in a tortuous, clinically-applicable vasculature was successfully performed. |
