Skip to content
Senior Design Day

Kidney Model Polymer: Developing a stable model for surgical simulation

Kidney Model Polymer: Developing a stable model for surgical simulation

Team Members

Arame Deme
Hon Sum Alastair Lee
Adrian McCalman
Tayfun Sahin

Supervisors

Melodie Lawton, Asst Professor of Chemical Engineering, UR

Customers

Simulation Innovation Lab, URMC

Description

This project aims to improve the polymeric material used for kidney models for medical students’ use when learning to perform percutaneous-nephrolithotomy (PCNL) surgery. The objectives for the polymer were: transparency under IR light to a 15 cm depth, a Young’s Modulus (i.e. measure of stiffness) similar to an actual kidney, and minimization of water loss to preserve model size. The attempted solutions included optimizing the pre-existing procedure with original reagents, as well as experiments with tertiary crosslinking agents.

  • Figure 1. Kidney model polymer (40% DMSO + 5% PVA) under IR light, with visible

Kidney model polymer (40% DMSO + 5% PVA) under IR light, with visible kidney stone (see arrow) at 2.5 cm depth.

  • Figure 2. PCNL surgery by X-ray to remove kidney stone.

PCNL surgery by X-ray to remove kidney stone.

  • Figure 3. Four experimental PVA + DMSO polymers with Borax tertiary agent, in vi

Four experimental PVA + DMSO polymers with Borax tertiary agent, in visible light. From clockwise starting top left, the polymers consisted of: 1:3 DMSO:dH2O solvent ratio with 0.25 g Borax; 1:3 DMSO:dH2O with 0.50g Borax; 2:3 DMSO:dH2O with 0.25 g Borax; and 2:3 DMSO:dH2O with 0.50 g Borax.