3D printing-based pediatric trainer for ultrasound-guided peripheral venous access

Peripheral venous access is an extremely common procedure, crucial in delivering drugs and collecting blood samples. It is associated to high failure rates, especial-ly when pediatric subjects are involved, due to reduced limb size and low cooper-ation. Ultrasound can sensibly increase success rates and reduce the time required to perform the procedure, though a specific training is necessary to acquire ade-quate hand-eye coordination and simultaneously handle needle and probe. Com-mercially available simulators lack of realistic devices that reproduce anatomy and kinematics of pediatric patients. In this work, an echogenic simulator integrating direct 3D printing and silicone casting is proposed. More specifically, it replicates a five years old upper limb’s anatomy comprising an articulated skeleton, muscle tissues, skin and an integrated blood circuit. The devised simulator shows its ef-fectiveness in terms of acoustic properties, articular kinematics reproduction and haptic feedback. Furthermore, the simulator can be easily customized according to specific training needs thanks to a highly flexible manufacturing process.