Development and Evaluation of a Reusable Self-Healing Ultrasound Phantom for Vascular Access

TY - JOUR

T1 - Development and Evaluation of a Reusable Self-Healing Ultrasound Phantom for Vascular Access

AU - Saija, Carlo

AU - Dyer, Jamie

AU - Leung, Lisa

AU - Sabu, Sachin

AU - Bachar, Ikhlef

AU - Cerruti, Giulio

AU - Smits, Jonas

AU - Salgado Fernandez, Nicole

AU - Przybylski, Flavie

AU - Benoist, Camille

AU - Byrne, Calum

AU - Gibson, Gregory

AU - Pontiki, Antonia

AU - Williams, Steven E.

AU - Behar, Jonathan

AU - Housden, James

AU - Sejor, Eric

AU - Rhode, Kawal

AU - Berthet-Rayne, Pierre

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 by the authors.

PY - 2026/1/16

Y1 - 2026/1/16

N2 - Ultrasound-guided femoral vascular access (UFVA) is a crucial step in cardiovascular intervention, yet training models remain costly, anatomically limited, or insufficiently durable. This research aimed to develop and evaluate a reusable, self-healing vascularised leg phantom in collaboration with clinicians. This bifurcating vascular model was cast in Plastisol using a customisable silicone mould design. The material exhibited a Shore OO hardness of 18.0 ± 2.2, a speed of sound of 1454 ± 15 m/s, an acoustic attenuation of 1.66 ± 0.02 × 106 kg/m2s, and healed 18G needle lesions within 3 h. Training capabilities were evaluated in a workshop involving 18 medical students: FVA times improved by more than 60% after 5 min of free practice. Qualitative feedback was collected from 31 medical educators via a seven-question Likert survey, with most reporting they would adopt the phantom for teaching. Phantoms cost £7.87 for materials, yet educators valued the models at £100–£500, underscoring its perceived utility. Compared to commercial alternatives, this in-house production approach reduced costs by 10–60 times, achieving comparable durability and anatomical fidelity. This study establishes a scalable, ultra-low-cost method for producing anatomically realistic, self-healing vascular phantoms, validated for effective skill acquisition in both educational and research settings.

AB - Ultrasound-guided femoral vascular access (UFVA) is a crucial step in cardiovascular intervention, yet training models remain costly, anatomically limited, or insufficiently durable. This research aimed to develop and evaluate a reusable, self-healing vascularised leg phantom in collaboration with clinicians. This bifurcating vascular model was cast in Plastisol using a customisable silicone mould design. The material exhibited a Shore OO hardness of 18.0 ± 2.2, a speed of sound of 1454 ± 15 m/s, an acoustic attenuation of 1.66 ± 0.02 × 106 kg/m2s, and healed 18G needle lesions within 3 h. Training capabilities were evaluated in a workshop involving 18 medical students: FVA times improved by more than 60% after 5 min of free practice. Qualitative feedback was collected from 31 medical educators via a seven-question Likert survey, with most reporting they would adopt the phantom for teaching. Phantoms cost £7.87 for materials, yet educators valued the models at £100–£500, underscoring its perceived utility. Compared to commercial alternatives, this in-house production approach reduced costs by 10–60 times, achieving comparable durability and anatomical fidelity. This study establishes a scalable, ultra-low-cost method for producing anatomically realistic, self-healing vascular phantoms, validated for effective skill acquisition in both educational and research settings.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105028686687

U2 - 10.3390/app16020933

DO - 10.3390/app16020933

M3 - Article

SN - 2076-3417

VL - 16

JO - Applied Sciences

JF - Applied Sciences

IS - 2

M1 - 933

ER -