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A practical 3D printed simulator for endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery to improve basic operational skills

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Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to present a practical three-dimensional (3D) printed simulator to comprehensively and effectively accelerate the learning curve of endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery (EETS).

Methods

The 3D printed simulator consists of three parts: (1) skull frame, (2) the nasal passage and the nasal alar of the face, and (3) a modified sella turcica. We aimed to improve three basic operational skills of surgeons: drilling, curetting, and aspirating. Eighteen neurosurgeons and five post-graduates were recruited and consented for the training.

Results

For trainees, (1) as the training progressed, the scores increased gradually, (2) a significant increase in the average scores was observed in the tenth training compared to the first training, and (3) there is a significant decrease in trainee variability in the shortening of the gap. The 18 neurosurgeons were divided into three groups: experts, assistants, and observers. For all three basic operations, (1) the average score of experts was obviously higher than that of the assistants, observers, and trainees’ tenth training and (2) the average scores of assistants and observers were obviously higher than that of trainees’ first training. A significant high in the average score between the assistants and the observers was seen for aspirating, but not for drilling or curetting. For curetting and aspirating, the tenth training average score of trainees was obviously higher than that of assistants and observers.

Conclusion

This 3D printed simulator allows different endoscopic basic operations to be simulated and improves the EETS techniques of surgeons. We believed it to be a practical, simple, and low-cost simulator.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the teaching and research section of anatomy, Nanjing University, for technical support and equipment assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, 305 East Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, 210002, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China

    Guodao Wen, ZiXiang Cong, KaiDong Liu, Chao Tang, Liwen Li & Chiyuan Ma

  2. School of Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, 104 Hanzhong Road, Nanjing, 210002, China

    Chunyu Zhong

  3. Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, 305 East Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, 210002, China

    XuJie Dai

Authors
  1. Guodao Wen
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  2. ZiXiang Cong
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  3. KaiDong Liu
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  4. Chao Tang
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  5. Chunyu Zhong
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  6. Liwen Li
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  7. XuJie Dai
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  8. Chiyuan Ma
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Correspondence to Chiyuan Ma.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Wen, G., Cong, Z., Liu, K. et al. A practical 3D printed simulator for endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery to improve basic operational skills. Childs Nerv Syst 32, 1109–1116 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-016-3051-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-016-3051-0

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