# Development and validation of high fidelity, patient specific, kidney phantoms for surgical rehearsals

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · 2020 · $77,000

## Abstract

Multiple centers have applied 3D printing to create physical models designed from patients'
imaging to be utilized by the treating team for preoperative planning. While the current practice is
adequate for surgical planning, none of the available printed polymers have the ability to reproduce tissue
properties permitting dissection, hemostasis and suturing. The emphasis of this proposal is to develop a
truly immersive, realistic simulation platform for practicing surgeons, thus increasing the likelihood of
skills transfer from the rehearsal to the live case. This project will develop and validate the technique of
combining image segmentation, 3D printing and hydrogel molding technologies to fabricate realistic,
functional and anatomically accurate patient-specific organ phantoms from patients' imaging to be utilized
as a preoperative surgical rehearsal platform for renal cancer surgeries. Our underlying hypothesis is
that by providing surgeons with a high-fidelity, patient-specific, simulation platform in which they can
visually and physically interact, they will be able to plan and then rehearse a patient's procedure with
sufficient immersion so that performing the actual procedure will feel familiar and can be performed with
confidence and precision. Proving this hypothesis will focus on three essential aspects including 1)
determining hydrogel polymer specifications that would replicate the physical properties of parenchymal
cadaveric kidney tissue as well as renal vasculature. Tests include an unconfined compression,
indentation and uniaxial tensile strength testing. Dual parameter optimization using an inverse finite
element model (FEA) will enable determination of both Young's modulus (E) and Poisson's ratio (ν) for
each individual kidney component, 2) ensuring the anatomical accuracy of the fabricated kidney
phantoms by comparing the anatomical accuracy of patient-specific kidney hydrogels to patients' original
imaging. Scanning and segmentation of the models will generate a duplicate computer design of the
patient's imaging that can be overlaid with the patient's original computer design generated from their
medical imaging to provide a quantitative difference error for each structure (parenchyma, tumor, arterial,
venous and urinary systems). In achieving these first two aims we will have the capability to create cost-
effective patient-specific kidney phantoms that accurately represent the anatomical, physical, functional
(bleeding) and radiological properties of each patient. Incorporating the essential surrounding organs
would replicate all elements of kidney cancer surgery within a single immersive simulation platform.
Finally, our third aim will be to assess the feasibility, realism and validity of our patient-specific surgical
rehearsal environment for use in kidney cancer surgery by study of i) subjective surgical realism by expert
urologists, and ii) ability to generate valid metrics of operative performance (blood loss, ischemia ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9894979
- **Project number:** 1R03EB027300-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Ahmed Ghazi
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $77,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-17 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9894979

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9894979, Development and validation of high fidelity, patient specific, kidney phantoms for surgical rehearsals (1R03EB027300-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9894979. Licensed CC0.

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