Conductive Gel Phantoms for Training in Electrosurgery

Considering the increasing demand for personalized surgical care, as well as current healthcare resources limitations, the use of anatomical accurate 3D physical phantoms is becoming increasingly important for the training of surgeons and the test of surgical instruments. A lack of physical models is nowadays denoted regarding the training in electrosurgery, despite its wide diffusion in medical practice. This work reports an extensive characterization of electrosurgical physical phantoms fabricated with tissue-mimicking ionogels and hydrogels. A careful design of the conductive gels allow the fine tuning of their mechanical and electrical properties, in order to match those of biological tissues. The manufacturing of a novel multi-material skin stratification bench-top pad is reported together with its use for training in both cold and electrical surgery. Furthermore, a feasibility study is reported, showing the use of conductive ionogels for simulating the coagulation of cortical vessels during brain surgery.