Arm Model and Puncture Training System in Hemodialysis

This study reports the teaching of puncture operation for students in clinical engineering. It is known in hemodialysis treatment when inserting a needle into the blood vessel of a patient, high level of accuracy is required, including the force, angle and needle tracks. However, it is difficult for the student to master such a complex technique within a very short university time with less exercise opportunity. For such reason, we construct a training system on PC for teaching the puncture operation on the special vessels on the arm of a patient. An artificial arm model capable of presenting a variety of vessels was constructed to help the understanding of puncture operations such as holding and insertion of needle. The students carried out repeatedly the insertion operation exercises on special vessels with real-time evaluation response, to obtain higher training efficiency.