synthesizing a solution maitland whose research focuses on novel treatments for cardiovascular disease had previously worked with a vmth cardiovascular doctor to create devices for use in the operating room; the doctor encouraged maitland and the biomedical engineers in his lab to move toward creating devices for animal patients "i learned long ago that we could reduce the number of animal iterations on device development if we brought clinicians in or even imported our models into the clinical environment for more advanced testing " maitland said "just getting iterations on models of real anatomies reduces the number of animals that need to be used in studies and the quality of devices goes up exponentially" maitlands lab had developed blocks made of silicone to test devices created to treat cardiovascular diseases one day saunders toured maitlands lab and immediately began thinking about how the technology could be applied to help her train residents to treat pda "the silicone block was made to resemble a pda and i knew we could use the 3d prints from our patients to make one that is more anatomically correct " saunders said and thats exactly what she and wierzbicki a doctoral student at the time did the two put their heads together and devised a plan that would combine the 3d imaging technology saunders was already using with the silicone-­based technology wierzbicki was exploring for his dissertation the final product looks like a clear rubber block inside which upon closer inspection has the outline of several "tubes" these tubes are arteries cast from the actual heart from one of saunders canine patients to make the cast saunders used ct scans to create a 3d representation of the dogs heart printed on the 3d printer in maitlands laboratory "we were able to 3d print the ct scanned heart using a dissolvable material and vapor polish the printed model to smooth out the ridges from the 3d printing process " wierzbicki said "we took the smooth 3d printed heart cast silicone around the model and then dissolved out the 3d-printed part after completing those steps we were left with a model dr saunders could use for training" the result was a solution to multiple problems--not only did the project become part of wierzbickis dissertation but it produced anatomically correct customized models that might change the way budding cardiologists are trained to learn catheterization techniques and repair heart defects to create an even more realistic setting saunders incorporated a camera that projects what the doctors are seeing onto a computer screen so that they train on a simulated heart that mimics a true procedure "when we do these procedures in a dog we cant see inside the body; we use fluoroscopy with images displayed on a screen that we have to look up at so it is important to learn how to do these procedures by watching a screen " she said "we can mimic the procedure by having the silicone blocks because they have the anatomy inside and the block is clear so they can see through it; the document camera displays the image up on my computer screen "they watch as they pass a catheter in and they learn how to do the procedure by getting the feel of inserting a device " she said "it doesnt require fluoroscopy or radiation and it doesnt require them being inside an actual dog to practice for the first time" the best part--the silicone blocks are virtually indestructible "this means you can take the block into a training lab setting knowing that its going to stand up to being used over and over again " saunders said the future of biomedical engineering: just a heartbeat away because of what the model means for how doctors treat cardiac defects saunders wierzbicki and maitland have published multiple papers related to the model and other devices used in cardiology saunders also has begun using the model in training exercises and labs for both residents and specialists who have an interest in catheterization techniques and interventional cardiology during a recent training that included specialists from around the world saunders found that the doctors responded enthusiastically to the model "they really loved it " she said "they said they feel like theyre more comfortable practicing with the model it makes more sense to them" while most companies that manufacture devices for human cardiology currently arent interested in making devices for animals as more and more veterinary surgeons begin recognizing the value of this kind of model maitland said he hopes that attention will open the doors for more opportunities for collaboration between biomedical engineers and the field of veterinary medicine "if you look at all of engineering and biomedical engineering specifically you dont think about animal health care as a primary focus were not trained to do that and so there are not enough partnerships going on between the two colleges and specifically biomedical and the cvm " said maitland who is chairing a committee in his department to do just that "i think we could make a lot of impact and in this case not just with what ashley is developing for training but we can also impact the technologies that are used in animal health care significantly if we just pay attention to it" this article originally appeared in the spring 2018 edition of cvm today