Sydney, May 24: Flinders University’s Medical Device Research Institute has successfully co-designed and tested new synthetic knee models, providing vital tools for surgeons to practice and enhance their knee surgery techniques.
These innovative models, developed in partnership with Adelaide-based company Fusetec, address the challenges posed by the limited availability and high cost of cadaveric specimens.
The new models have demonstrated superior mechanical performance in extensive testing, overcoming the limitations of existing models that often lack biomechanical fidelity.
Already in use across the Australia-Pacific region, these next-generation models are scheduled for pilot programs in the USA.
Fusetec’s CEO, Mark Roe, emphasized the global impact of these advancements. “Innovations in surgical training models like this artificial total knee replacement will greatly enhance the ability of higher education and upskilling of medical professionals around the world,” he said.
Roe highlighted the significant need for improved surgical training, especially in lower- and middle-income countries.
“There are more than 143 million additional surgical procedures needed each year in these regions to save lives and prevent disability. At least 5 billion people do not have access to safe, affordable surgical and anesthesia care when needed, partly due to a shortage of specialists.”
Professor Mark Taylor, Deputy Director of Flinders University’s Medical Device Research Institute, noted that these advanced synthetic models enable surgeons to quickly gain competence through repeated practice without relying on human specimens.
“Manufactured knee models may also provide more homogenous examination environments for students, ensuring fair assessments by minimizing specimen variability, further reducing our need for cadaveric specimens,” Taylor said.
The development of these models involved significant input and feedback from surgeons.
The design process incorporated computational biomechanics tools to replicate the mechanical interactions of the human knee, with Fusetec’s Digital Anatomy Printer and MDRI’s Hexapod robot playing crucial roles in the manufacturing and testing stages.
Dr. Kieran Bennett, the study’s first author, explained that the collaboration aimed to create a knee surgical training model that accurately reproduces human knee mechanics while maintaining anatomical accuracy.
“By reproducing the mechanical function of major ligamentous structures of the knee, the models provide both anatomic and biomechanical fidelity, a limitation of previous surgical training models,” Bennett said.
Future developments will focus on creating a broader range of model sizes and deformities, expanding the scope of surgical procedures that can be practiced using synthetic models.
The research, titled “Development and validation of a biomechanically fidelic surgical training knee model,” has been published in Orthopaedic Research.
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