Creepy human replica could train future surgeons: 3D printed body that breathes and bleeds can recreate the trauma of emergency operations

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With the skin on his patient's chest peeled back and their rib cage cracked open, Richard Arm reaches in and pulls out their heart.

For anyone who is even a little squeamish, it is a horrifying sight, except for one key detail - this 'patient' is actually a life-like 3D printed replica of a human being.

Carefully modelled on a real body, it has been created from a combination of silicone gels and fibres to mimic a real patient to help train surgeons.

WARNING SOME READERS MAY FIND THE PICTURES DISTURBING 

Researchers have developed a life-like human body (pictured) that can be used to train surgeons to perform emergency operations. Modelled on a real person, it has silicon skin and organs that have been 3D printed using CT scans of real hearts, lungs and blood vessels

Each of its organs have been printed using CT scans of real hearts, lungs and blood vessels while the face is modelled on a real person right down to realistic stubble.

Artificial blood can be pumped into the body to recreate the blood loss that occurs when surgeons cut into a patient and to give them experience of racing against the clock before they bleed to death.

Air can be pumped into the lungs so the inflate and deflate just like the patient is breathing. 

Even the chest can rise and fall as the 'patient' breathes while on the operating table.

It has been developed by Mr Arm, a research fellow at Nottingham Trent University, in an attempt to recreate the stress and feel of emergency trauma surgery for trainee doctors.

He said: 'The aim is to allow trainee surgeons the psychological space to prepare for real life surgery using immersive environments and realistic representations of human anatomy.

The lifelike body can appear gruesome but is actually made from different types of silicon and some fibres to give it structure. The organs and body parts (pictured) have been modelled so they not only look the same as the real thing but look like it too 

The body can also mimic breathing, which causes the chest to rise and fall, allowing trainee medics to replicate respirating a patient (pictured)

The silicon skin can be cut, pulled back (pictured) and then resealed, allowing multiple mock-operations to be conducted. The body is designed to prepare surgeons for traumatic emergency surgery

'Surgeons can be better prepared for live surgery by improving their surgical skills and enhancing post-operative outcomes for patients.'

The 3D printed patient was created in a project between the University's school of art and design, the Ministry of Defence's Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Each of the organs has been engineered to have the same feel as the real thing, so different parts of the heart have different levels of hardness.

Researcher Richard Arm (pictured) developed the body as part of a project with the Ministry of Defence, which hopes to use the 3D printed patient to train its field surgeons 

Surgeons can be taught how to perform traumatic surgery on patients in safety while also experiencing what it can be like in real life (pictured)

The outer skin – created by causality simulation firm Trauma FX – can be cut with a scalpel and then seamlessly resealed for repeated mock surgeries.

A limited supply of artificial blood can be pumped into the body to provide the experience of operating against the clock, before a fatal level of blood-loss occurs.

Tests will now be conducted on the prototype to see how it can be improved while the team also plan to create other life-like organs including the brain, eyes, stomach, liver, pancreas and kidneys.

Among the organs that were created for the body was an imitation lung (pictured) that can be inflated and deflated just like the real thing. When inside the body it causes the chest to rise and fall just like the 3D printed patient is breathing

Organs like the heart were produced with different textures so they feel like the real organ. Areas around the blood vessels feel different to other parts of the heart (pictured)

The researchers have also created replica blood vessels through which artificial blood can be pumped. The design is intended to recreate the experience of cutting into a patient and how to repair damage if a blood vessel is cut

They may also recreate the vascular system for a person's legs.

Colonel Peter Mahoney, emeritus professor of anaesthesia, at the MoD's Defence Medical Services, said it could transform how military surgeons are trained to deal with battlefield traumas.

'The ability to place clinically realistic surgical and anaesthetic training models into simulations of austere military environments is of great value to military medicine,' he said.

The 3D printed patient's face was even modelled to look like a real human, complete with stubble (pictured). It is hoped the project will improve the training of surgeons

The researchers have created a range of organs that fit inside the body (pictured) just as they would in real life, but they are hoping to produce new organs such as the brain, eyes, stomach, liver, pancreas and kidneys

'As well as providing a training platform for our surgical teams, the thoracic trauma trainer will be of benefit to our prehospital Medical Emergency Response Teams.'

The MoD is expected to take delivery of two of these silicon 'patients' in 2017 to begin training their staff on them.

Professor Tilak Dias, a supervisor of the project at Nottingham Trent University, said: 'By enhancing the learning experience of surgeons, we can ensure they are better prepared for real life situations where their skills and knowledge are relied upon to save people's lives.'