Bionics-based Surgical Training Using 3D Printed Photopolymers and Smart Devices

Additive manufacturing technologies support the realization of surgical training devices using, typically, photopolymersbased materials. Unfortunately, the material jetting family, able to print a large range of soft and hard polymers, requires expensive machines and materials, which are not always available. On the other hand, vat polymerization fails in the resolution/volume ratio and in the mechanical properties reconstruction. Stereolithographic 3D printers, mostly used in dental surgery, make possible to realize cheap and sustainable models for training activity using only one material, reducing the possibility to obtain different mechanical characteristics. Moreover, the printed objects have to be treated (i.e. curing post-processing) in order to obtain the required performances, that could be preserved for long term storing. The aim of the proposed approach is to assure the surgeons’ skills improvement through bionic-based surgical 3D printed models and smart devices, able to reproduce the same perception of a real surgical activity. We demonstrated how it is possible develop smart devices capable to take into account the same characteristics of different materials (i.e. bone and spongy bone) even if stored for a long time.