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UF students advance surgery skills using synthetic cadavers

UF veterinary medical students are shown performing an abdominal surgical procedure with a synthetic canine cadaver on Nov. 29. (Photo by Mindy Miller)

By Sarah Carey

University of Florida veterinary medical students began implementing some of the most advanced technology in the world on Nov. 29 through the first-ever use of true-to-life synthetic canine cadavers in a surgery lab.

The UF College of Veterinary Medicine purchased 25 of the true-to-life models — which bleed and even have a pulse — last year after talks with SynDaver Labs, which makes synthetic human cadavers as training aids in human medicine. Initially, a team including college director John Haven and UF small animal surgeons Brad Case and Stanley Kim visited the company’s headquarters in Tampa discuss whether the company could create a canine abdominal model that veterinary medical students could use in surgery courses as alternatives to canine cadavers.

“During the visit, we showed them our current human technology and I suggested building the full dog, because, why not?” said Christopher Sakezles, Syndaver’s president.

Further discussions then ensued with the UF surgeons to tweak the model’s design.

Dr. Stan Kim inspects the work performed by a team of veterinary medical students during an abdominal surgical procedure performed using a synthetic canine cadaver on Nov. 29. (Photo by Mindy Miller)

“We gave them a list of specific features we wanted to see in the model,” said Stanley Kim, Bv.Sc., an assistant professor of small animal surgery at UF. “They then built a prototype and brought it up for us to test. We tested and provided feedback on three or four iterations of the model before the final product was created.”

The students who participated in the Nov. 29 lab were seniors enrolled in an advanced surgery course. Two labs were held in different time slots on that day with students stationed in teams at different work tables. The class was given a series of abdominal surgical procedures to perform — a splenectomy and a liver biopsy were on the list but other types of procedures will be covered in the future — with audio-visual monitors installed on walls above each station as teaching aids.

The canine models have all of the bones, muscles and relevant organs and vascular components found in actual dogs. Made from a library of more than 100 synthetic tissues that mimic actual living tissue in terms of mechanical properties, densities and other properties, the model “is an actual synthetic animal with all of the relevant body systems, with a heart that actually pumps synthetic blood through the core, organs and limbs,” Sakezles said. “It can be intubated and ventilated.”

Chris Alling, a senior UF veterinary medical student who participated in the lab, said the models were helpful from a student’s perspective because all of the typical pressures of surgery, including blood loss, anesthesia maintenance and asepsis, are removed, or at least mitigated.

“Of course, we still do our best to maintain sterile technique and limit hemorrhage, but when errors are made, we don’t experience the same level of anxiety as if we had endangered a living, breathing patient,” Alling said. “This allows us to focus more fully on the surgical techniques themselves, which ultimately builds confidence for when we will be eventually faced with real cases.”

The models are compatible with all known surgical instruments and imaging techniques.

Dr. Brad Case works with a team of students on a procedure in an advanced surgery lab on Nov. 29. (Photo by Mindy Miller)

“I thought the lab went spectacularly,” said J. Brad Case, D.V.M., another assistant professor of small animal surgery at UF who assisted in teaching the class. “I think it was great that the seniors got the first shot and were able to do the more advanced procedures. That said, I think the sophomores this spring will love being able to perform their first-ever mock spay procedure in a Syndaver canine versus through the historic use of cadavers. I am really looking forward to that.”

Up to now, UF, like many other veterinary medical teaching colleges, has used canine cadavers in the veterinary medical surgery curriculum. Their use has many disadvantages, however, surgeons say; dog cadavers are expensive to store and increasingly difficult to procure as animal shelters move to no-kill policies. In addition, they present other challenges to work with.

“I felt very fortunate to be a part of the team that delivered this experience to the students,” Kim said. “It may turn out to be one of my biggest contributions to veterinary medicine. Simulation is the way of the future for surgical training in both the human and veterinary fields, and in helping to develop this model, we at UF are leading the way in simulation veterinary surgery.”