Model surgery from Heartworks

Technology previously used to bring computer game characters to life is set to transform the way cardiac anaesthesiologists are trained.

Heartworks (pictured below) combines a computer model of the heart with ultrasound simulation and a haptic interface to provide a training tool with unprecedented levels of realism.

It is the brainchild of thee clinicians at the Heart Hospital in London who wanted a tool to support their course in peri-operative transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE).

TOE is a process used in cardiac surgery in which a miniaturised ultrasound scanner is inserted via the patient's mouth and down the oesophagus to a position behind the heart to constantly monitor its condition during the operation. It requires a high degree of skill and training for anaesthesiologists to place the scanner, select the appropriate planes through which to view the heart and interpret what the monitor displays.

Using Heartworks, a trainee inserts a model probe into a specially designed dummy patient torso. A screen displays any combination of accurate simulated ultrasound images; a detailed model heart, which can be cut away as required to see its internal workings; and labels of 130 structures in the heart.

The probe can be moved up or down and rotated through different planes of viewing, as would occur during surgery. This allows the user to directly relate what they see in the ultrasound image to the heart structures so they will know everything is functioning correctly in a real operation. Throughout it all, the heart continues beating and its constituent parts (such as the valves and chamber walls) behave realistically.