• Azad Mashari, Mario Montealegre-Gallegos, Jelliffe Jeganathan, Lu Yeh, Joshua Qua Hiansen, Massimiliano Meineri, Feroze Mahmood, and Robina Matyal.
• Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• Plos One. 2018 Jan 1; 13 (6): e0191664.

MethodsAnonymized CT DICOM data was segmented to create a 3D model of the lumbar spine. The 3D model was modified, placed inside a digitally designed housing unit and fabricated on a desktop 3D printer using polylactic acid (PLA) filament. The model was filled with an echogenic solution of gelatin with psyllium fiber. Twenty-two staff anesthesiologists performed a spinal and epidural on the 3D printed simulator and a commercially available Simulab phantom. Participants evaluated the tactile and ultrasound imaging fidelity of both phantoms via Likert-scale questionnaire.ResultsThe 3D printed neuraxial phantom cost $13 to print and required 25 hours of non-supervised printing and 2 hours of assembly time. The 3D printed phantom was found to be less realistic to surface palpation than the Simulab phantom due to fragility of the silicone but had significantly better fidelity for loss of resistance, dural puncture and ultrasound imaging than the Simulab phantom.ConclusionLow-cost neuraxial phantoms with fidelity comparable to commercial models can be produced using CT data and low-cost infrastructure consisting of FLOS software and desktop 3D printers.

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