MEDICAL DEVICE INNOVATION - Medical Device Daily

MEDICAL DEVICE INNOVATION 2010
Surgical training models skirt
the mess of cadavers, animals
By LYNN YOFFEE
Medical Device Daily Staff Writer
Surgeons typically learn their trade or how to use a new
device by peer-to-peer training in the operating room,
which can be an expensive endeavor. They also get practical
experience working on cadavers and animals. But the
cadavers can be more than unpleasant and animal rights
groups are increasingly vocal.
What’s the alternative Lifelike models are being
increasingly used to train both new surgeons as well as veterans
who are learning how to use a new device. And
they’re nothing like the hard plastic heart model you see on
the doctor’s desk either.
The Chamberlain Group (Great Barrington,
Massachusetts) now produces more than 450 products
ranging from an upper GI model that includes a mouth and
nose leading to an esophagus, stomach and duodenum for
endoscopic exploration to a beating heart.
“There’s a big effort being made to use computer
graphics, virtual reality and simulations to create an experience
akin to what’s done in training of pilots,” company
co-founder Lisa Chamberlain told Medical Device Daily.
“They’re put into a simulator environment and it’s done for
surgical and interventional training and some of it is very
effective. But for the kinds of interaction that require direct
tissue contact between the physician and trainee, that’s a
much harder sell. So our goal in our work is to provide a
reasonably affordable solution that addressees that handson
tactile experience.”
Made of silicone and other polymers, the demand for
Chamberlain products is growing. The majority of model
buyers are medical device manufacturers who need a
mechanism to train surgeons on a new device. But now the
products are being used for surgical training too.
“It’s gone from a novelty and a way to demonstrate procedures
to a much more prevalent form of training,” she
said. “I’d like to think we’ve had some effect on the acceptance
of these products by virtue of them being realistic
enough.”
With just a handful of similar companies in the world,
Chamberlain and her husband, Eric Chamberlain, started
the business a decade ago by chance. The company has
continued to grow, seemingly unaffected by the downturned
economy.
“There’s a lot going on in the medical device industry
and we’re doing OK,” she said. “I’m hearing more about
price sensitivity, but we’re still up [in sales] over last year.”
Both were previously in the visual effects industry for
movies and television with credits such as Superman, The
World According to Garp, Predator I and II, The Big Chill,
Tootsie, Gandhi, Ghostbusters, and The Matrix. A colleague
35
in the silicone business supplied the Chamberlain’s names
to a device maker who was searching for somebody to
build a realistic model.
“We didn’t have a background in this field,” she said.
“After we got over the gross-out factor, it was very interesting.
What’s funny about our backgrounds is that it has
proved to be extremely useful and pertinent. We understood
the technologies in frequent use by our clients.”
Three of the company’s latest models include a sinus
trainer, a comprehensive uterine robotic surgery trainer
and the next generation of a Robotic System Skills Kit, a
modular tool for practicing basic skills in robotic surgery.
The Maxillary Clinical Sinus Trainer was recently
designed for Entellus Medical (Maple Grove, Minnesota) to
train ENT surgeons on the company’s new FinESS Sinus
Treatment, a treatment for chronic sinusitis.
Tom Ressemann, CEO of Entellus, said, “Before we had
the trainers, we had to fly physicians in for a training session
to work on cadavers, which is a logistic and expensive
challenge. The trainer now allows Entellus to bring the
training to physicians, which is much more convenient for
these busy surgeons; and it saves time and money.”
The sinus trainer has a life-like patient head and neck
with key anatomical landmarks such as the maxillary
ostium, uncinate process, ethmoid bulla, nasal septum and
turbinates. The structure is derived from actual patient CT
data which is then replicated as a 3-D model. The maxillary
sinus anatomy differs slightly on each side of the trainer so
that the trainee is not limited to just one anatomical situation.
The Uterine Trainer and the Robotic System Skills Kit
were developed for Intuitive Surgical (Sunnyvale,
California) for training on the company’s da Vinci Surgical
System.
The Uterine Trainer allows physicians to practice robotic
skills used in myomectomy (removal of uterine fibroid
tumors), hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) and sacrocolpopexy
(correcting vaginal vault prolapse). Following a
practice myomectomy using the trainer, the physician can
perform a colpotomy (separating the uterus from the vagina)
which is a skill performed during a hysterectomy. The
remaining vaginal canal may then be affixed to mesh and a
sacrocolpopexy performed by attaching the mesh to the
available sacral tissue. This trainer has a replaceable uterus
which permits unlimited practice.
“Virtually everyone who trains on a da Vinci system
first sits down at a Chamberlain model,” she said.
The models range in price, depending on the complexity
and whether or not it’s an off-the-shelf model or one
that’s been customized.
Cardiovascular models are a big seller for the company.
If one needs to train for coronary artery bypass (CABG), a
heart and thorax can be purchased.
“But the physician might need to puncture the skin, go
between the skin and get to coronary arteries to perform a
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