To learn more about our Tensioning Base click here.
Exposure to real world scenarios should be the focus of all lab settings in an educational setting, especially so in a medical education setting. Giving students the optimal opportunities to practice on quality and realistic material will set them up for long term success, and SurgiReal’s Tensioning Base is specifically designed to cultivate the learning environment. The tensioning base is a very practical and useful tool to have on hand when practicing suture, I&D, and biopsy techniques on simulative materials.The base acts to hold the suture pad in place to create a rounded surface replicating life-like surface tension of a wound or incision.
VISUAL REALISM
When a laceration occurs in human tissue, there is a natural tension which causes the tissue to open up the wound. This is due to the integrity and tensile properties of the dermal, fascial, muscular and adipose layers of human tissue. Without a tensioning base, the suture pad will remain relatively closed when it is laid on the table. This would render the deeper layers to be physically and visually obstructed. If one is working on a 6-layer suture pad, the absence of a tensioning base would significantly impede ease of use and the overall educational experience. With the use of a tensioning base, the wound effortlessly opens up in a realistic way, allowing ease of access to deeper layers and much greater visual feedback to the practitioner. Such a setup allows for both a more comprehensive simulative experience. Additionally, it is significantly more akin to real life wounds or incisions than a suture pad on a flat surface—thus offering a much more valuable clinical experience to medical students, residents, and professors performing live demonstrations.
TACTILE REALISM
While performing actual procedures such as suture, incision and drainage, and punch/shave biopsy, the practitioner will feel the live tissue pull back when closing the wound with the needle and thread. This is where the tensioning base helps create a more life-like tactile and proprioceptive experience for the student learner. Even while creating an incision with a scalpel, the blade will glide much smoother on a surface that is under some tension than when the simulative pad is simply laid flat on table. Such is not the case when practicing on bananas, oranges, and sponges. Even pigs’ feet and cadavers being dead specimens lack the elasticity and responsive characteristic of living tissue. Tactile muscle memory is often readily stored in the long-term memory and is not easily replaced. If a student is accustomed to using a heavy hand in surgical procedures due the poor nature of the practice materials, it will only be natural that on real patients the incisions and perforations are longer and deeper than necessary, potentially causing more harm than good. Judicious use of the best materials on the market during practice sessions should increase a physician’s confidence and successful patient outcomes. When these technical methods and skills are acquired correctly the first time, there will not be the need to painstakingly re-learn them at a subsequent time. Practicing on subpar models can waste much time and effort. High quality suture pads and surgical models from SurgiReal have the correct amount of give in the skin to create an accurate, ideal learning experience for medical trainees who are practicing for the first time or the hundredth time.
HIGHLY VERSATILE AND REUSABLE
The base works well with the I&D pad, dermal lesion pad, intestines, stomach, lipoma pad and much more. Due to the high versatility and reusability of the tensioning base, it is a great investment for all students and professionals. The difference with and without it will be felt and noticed immediately upon use. It adds tension to nearly every SurgiReal product; stabilizing it to a realistically rounded surface. It is the ideal accessory to any of our high quality suture pads.
We understand the challenges of creating a realistic experience for students and residents when offering training sessions. SurgiReal is here as a partner to offer materials that will aid in the learning and acquisition of important procedural skills and positively impact future lives. It is difficult enough to fully educate physicians and surgeons given all the demands and requirements; our company is here to help facilitate this learning process as much as we can for the good of students, faculty and patients alike.
To learn more about our Tensioning Base click here.