Interactive mold design for paediatric lower airway manikin manufacturing: a feasibility study

According to previous research, shore 40 A casting silicone is currently one of the more suitable materials for simulating the physical behavior of the airways in medicine simulation. This is essential to attain high-fidelity manikins that can perfectly mimic the simulated anatomic region, not just geometrically, but also in terms of haptic feedback. Due to the geometrical complexity of the tracheo-bronchial tree, mold design is a difficult and time-consuming process. An interactive modeling procedure for modeling mold parts for tracheo-bronchial tree casting is proposed in this paper, with the purpose of reducing modeling time without compromising quality. Following the definition of a standard modeling procedure, this was implemented in the Matlab language by using an IGES and STL editing toolbox. By using the interactive procedure it is possible to reduce the time required for virtual modeling from several hours to less than 1 min. Given this preliminary result, the proposed procedure will be further tested and developed in the near future, with the possibility of automating other lower airway modeling steps, such as vent generation and mounting holes/pins.