Simulating the Dead

Simulating the Dead Simulating the Dead Simulating the DeadThere may be seven billion people or so on the planet, with about 105 of them dying each minute, but a good body is still hard to come by. And expensive.But now those in need of an anatomy lesson no longer have to wait for accidents to befall people with the word donor on their license. Instead, they can purchase the hyperrealistic SynDaver dummy and root around organs, bones, muscle, and tendons without having to chuck them out when theyre done.The fake body is the brainchild of mechanical engineer Christopher Sakezles. He first had the idea while in graduate school. It was essentially a quest to find a material to mimic one thing, which was tracheal mucosa, he says. I was developing an intratracheal tube and needed something to test it in. It wasnt much of leap to realize that the world was filled with people who needed to test tools in realistic bodies that werent real bodies.The models are made from materials that mimic t he properties of live tissue. Image SynDaverAchieving the realism necessary for serious medical study and practice is an arduous, painstaking process. We dont use ASTM standard tests because what we are doing is sufficiently different from what is generally known, says Sakezles. As a surgical learning tool, its the feel of living tissue that needs to be emulated. So Sakezles carefully builds up a data set for every element of the body, which includes puncture resistance, abrasion resistance, tensile modulus, and coefficient friction. What we do is we control both ends, he says. We control the testing of the live tissue, and also the testing of the analog material. And we do it on the saatkorn equipment in the same conditions in every single case. Thats why our mimics are so good.The result is a body that is, by design, as fragile as the real thing. Its also as hard to put back together. So after the student of anatomy has browsed the internal inventory, or the student of surgery has made a few practice incisions, the doll is shipped back to Sakezles for reconstitution. We sell them with a service contract, he explains. They get shipped back and forth, between our factory and the user, and they get refurbed.While the mannequins are perfect for training the nursing student who needs to locate the inferior vena cava, or allowing a young surgeon-to-be to get a feel for slicing the dorsal radiocarpal ligament, they are not yet detailed enough for dissection in a med school gross anatomy class. Its a work in progress and it probably will be for my lifetime, says Sakezles. There are certain things not in the body yet. Its at the point where we have all the organs, muscles, bones, and tendons weve got the great nerves, and the great vessels, and as time goes by were adding in things that are missingthere are no sensory organs in the body yetand improving things that are there and arent missing.But those in the market for a faux cadaver dont need to consider waiting fo r later, more detailed versions. As the models come back to him for refurbishing, Sakezles includes all upgrades.Medical education is not the only field to recognize the benefits of a good realistic body. The SynDaver has had its share of the spotlight, appearing on Shark Tank, Shipping Wars, Myth Busters, Crossbones and practically every episode of Greys Anatomy. The military has used them as well, for training soldiers and doctors to deal with trauma, as well as for weapons and armor development. Any kind of application where you are trying to design some kind of device or process that interacts with the human body, thats a tauglichkeit application for a SynDaver, says Sakezles.Whatever the purpose, the mock carcass, with educational discounts, goes for $40,000. The price of a real cadaver is rarely as high as $15,000. But the important difference is basically this the SynDaver is a one-time acquisition, the cadaver is a disposable one. And when it comes to real bodies, that $15,0 00 is only the price of the flesh and bones. The facilities that are required to house a cadaver lab are monstrously expensive, the personnel costs are monstrously expensive.Were talking tens of millions of dollars to have a facility like that, whereas you can take a SynDaver and plop it down on a break room table with no worries.Michael Abrams is an independent writer.Learn about the latest trends in bioengineering at ASMEs Global Congress onNanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology.Any kind of application where you are trying to design some kind of device or process that interacts with the human body, thats a potential application for a SynDaver.Christopher Sakezles, inventor, SynDaver