Open-heart surgery comes with known risks and complications. Nowadays, cardiac procedures can be performed with small incisions, not wide openings of the chest. Better still, is there a way for surgeons to repeat practice on the minimally invasive Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) before the operations are performed on patients? A made-in-Hong Kong innovation provides a positive answer to this question. Jointly developed by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong, The TAVI simulation model brings good news to doctors and patients alike. Features and the associated benefits of the simulation model are as follows:
- accommodates life-sized, 3D printed blood vessels and aortic valves based on patients’ computed tomography images
- imitates human circulation in terms of fluid flow and temperature
- equipped with a built-in rotatable camera and a screen for displaying real-time black-and-white images
- advantages in surgical planning, clinical training and repeated trials before operations
- improves clinical teamwork and shortens procedure time
- no X-ray involved in the simulation, unlike traditional methods
- better healthcare quality for patients
