title: Training in Cerebral Aneurysm Clipping Using Self-Made 3-Dimensional Models.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently, there have been increasingly fewer opportunities for junior surgeons to receive on-the-job training. Therefore, we created custom-built three-dimensional (3D) surgical simulators for training in connection with cerebral aneurysm clipping.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three patient-specific models were composed of a trimmed skull, retractable brain, and a hollow elastic aneurysm with its parent artery. The brain models were created using 3D printers via a casting technique. The artery models were made by 3D printing and a lost-wax technique. Four residents and 2 junior neurosurgeons attended the training courses. The trainees retracted the brain, observed the parent arteries and aneurysmal neck, selected the clip(s), and clipped the neck of an aneurysm. The duration of simulation was recorded. A senior neurosurgeon then assessed the trainee's technical skill and explained how to improve his/her performance for the procedure using a video of the actual surgery. Subsequently, the trainee attempted the clipping simulation again, using the same model. After the course, the senior neurosurgeon assessed each trainee's technical skill. The trainee critiqued the usefulness of the model and the effectiveness of the training course.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Trainees succeeded in performing the simulation in line with an actual surgery. Their skills tended to improve upon completion of the training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These simulation models are easy to create, and we believe that they are very useful for training junior neurosurgeons in the surgical techniques needed for cerebral aneurysm clipping.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke Tochigi, Japan. Electronic address: mashiko@jichi.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mashiko
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Konno
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Aomori Prefectural Central Hospital, Aomori, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiju
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D002983:Clinical Competence; D000072226:Computed Tomography Angiography; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000601:surgery*; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000193:education*; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional; D000066908:Simulation Training / Q000379:methods*; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000193:education*
keywords: 3D model; 3D printing; Medical Knowledge; Practice-Based Learning; Systems-Based Practice; aneurysm clipping; cerebral aneurysm; simulator; simulator training