Unilateral Cleft Lip Malformation Surgical Repair Trainer
Background
Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form properly during pregnancy. About 10 in 10,000 infants per year are born with cleft lip with or without cleft palate in the United States. Cleft lip repair is a specialized and delicate surgical procedure that if performed poorly, may result in undesirable aesthetic and functional issues for the patient. However, due to the relative infrequency of the procedure as well as the need to avoid initial training on patients, there is a need for a high-fidelity trainer to simulate the surgical procedure.
Technology Overview
Boston Children’s Hospital have developed and validated a Unilateral Cleft Lip Malformation Surgical Repair Trainer to avoid and decrease the chance of problematic cleft lip repair. The assembled trainer consists of 3 main components: a consumable module disk assembly, reusable base, and reusable cap. The module disk assembly consists of (optionally) two cleft modules affixed to a mounting disk on opposite sides. The module disk snaps into the base with a dual-button release mechanism that allows the disk to rotate when needed. In addition, the cap snaps onto the disk via the same mechanism, but is fitted to be removed with less force than the base. More importantly, the high-fidelity silicone cleft modules consist of skin, fat and muscle layers that are reinforced to hold suture but provide realistic feedback when cut with a scalpel blade. In addition, the modules have accurate anatomic surface features in the region of the cleft and are colored to clearly distinguish the vermillion border and the tissue of the lips and gums. In essence, this trainer is relatively low cost, simple to manufacture and more compact and portable when compared to other existing cleft lip trainers.
Benefits
- Training tool that can be used by the instructor and trainee to practice at the same time
- Synthetic materials that are controllable and consistent
- Realistic anatomic landmarks and anatomy
- Realistic haptics; suture-able
- Reusable trainer (base/cup)
- Adjustable/selectable angled positioning
- Adjustable rotational positioning
- Lightweight, portable, and compact
- Relatively low cost compared to other trainers
Applications
- Surgical training for cleft lip repair
