Background on the Creation of the Surgery Training Model
One in 100 infants are born with a congenital heart disease, and it is the leading cause of death in infancy. The neonatal heart is extremely small, and the three-dimensional structure of each individual is incredibly complex. The highest surgical skill is required to ensure a successful procedure. However, when it comes to the congenital pediatric heart disease field, sufficient surgical training has yet to be implemented, and there are not adequate tools for training or simulation. The Surgical Training Model was created to deal with this situation and improve patient quality of life, working to develop a surgical training model for congenital heart diseases with the aim of improving the training of beginner and mid-level doctors.
Design Concept
Since this training model deals with high risk congenital heart disease procedures, our design strives for ease-of-use, while also aiming for near identical reproduction of the organ’s texture and shape. Firstly, we wanted to eliminate the need for special prep work. This makes it possible to conduct training in a dry environment under extremely confined surroundings (in other words, right on one’s desk), and the device includes the heart parts along with the surrounding thread holder. Furthermore, we established clear target costs from the outset, aiming to meet these costs in order to allow beginner doctors to use the product for repeated training. Most specifically, we were able to realize a price that cuts cost by 300% for repeat purchases by making individual heart parts disposable, which limits cost to the required part only (from the atrium to the large blood vessel). Moving forward, we will work to develop a sequential lineup of three specific pieces, deploying them to various surgical fields with the goal of improving the skills of beginner doctors, and playing a larger part to save lives as a manufacturer.
Product Lineup

Surgery Training Model TGA
(Transposition of Great Arteries)
Price: 30,000 Yen
TGA Heart Part : | 55mm × 50mm × 35mm |
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Special Stand : | 64mm × 69mm × 25mm |

Surgery Training Model TOF
(Fallot’s Tetralogy Model)
Price: 33,000 Yen
TOF Heart Part : | 50mm × 55mm × 60mm |
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Special Stand : | 85mm × 80mm × 35mm |

Surgery Training Model HLHS
(Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome)
Coming Soon...

Surgery Training Model VSD
(Ventricular Septal Defect Model)
Coming Soon...
Our Surgery Training Model was presented as a winning design at the Good Design Exhibition 2017, a showcase of the latest well-designed products that takes place at Tokyo Midtown from November 1st (Wed.) - November 5th (Sun.).
Good Design Exhibition 2017
Date: November 1st (Wed.) - November 5th (Sun.)
Venue: Tokyo Midtown (Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Judging Committee’s Evaluation
It is incredible that the model manages to reproduce not only the form, but the texture as well. Not only is the heart designed well, but suture holders are included too. It’s great being able to carry out surgical training without doing any special preparation. Cost is reduced by only requiring manufacturing of the necessary parts. Such design considerations allow for more surgical training.