Novel Central Venous Catheterization Simulation for Medical Training

Central Venous Catheterization (CVC) involves the insertion of a catheter through the subclavian or jugular vein and into the heart when the patient requires a large influx of drugs. With the target veins so close to the lungs and vital arteries, mistakes during this procedure can be fatal. Unfortunately, it is particularly challenging for students to learn this procedure and is often practiced by novice students on live patients as current simulators are ineffective. Simulators on the market are expensive, inconvenient, and often anatomically inaccurate, leading to improper student training. To address the shortcomings of current simulators, our patent-pending design includes features such as a fully rotatable head and proper anatomical landmarks. Our training simulator is ultrasoundable and can replicate both the pulsing of the arteries and the expanding of the veins under changes in fluid pressure. In addition, our simulator comes with training software allowing for tracking of students as they progress through the curriculum. We are currently performing usability testing of our prototype. Novice residents and expert practicing doctors perform CVC on our simulator for assessment of accuracy, ease of use, and training effectiveness in comparison to commercially available simulators.