Cranial suture simulator for ultrasound diagnosis of craniosynostosis.

BACKGROUND

In evaluating the effectiveness of ultrasound as a screening tool for craniosynostosis it was discovered that sonologists and sonographers needed more experience scanning and visualizing cranial sutures on ultrasound.

OBJECTIVE

To create an ultrasound simulator to train radiologists and technologists to locate and recognize patent and fused cranial sutures in children.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

The hypoechoic appearance of patent sutures was simulated by cutting lines into life-sized plastic doll heads and filling them with a commercial hypoechogenic material. Fused hyperechoic sutures were simulated by not cutting into the hard plastic region of a suture. The simulator's teaching value was evaluated on three radiology residents and three fellows. Subjects performed pre-training scans on unknown simulators, received feedback and an opportunity to scan a training simulator, and then performed post-training scans on random unknown simulators. Accuracy was recorded as percentage of correctly demonstrated sutures.

RESULTS

The suture simulator reproduces the sonographic appearance of patent and fused cranial sutures. Accuracy of acquisition, interpretation, and overall diagnosis increased from 64 to 91%, 79 to 91%, 61 to 97%, respectively, between pre and post training scans.

CONCLUSION

An ultrasound simulator can reproduce the appearance of patent and fused cranial sutures in children and can be used to train radiologists and technologists in the performance of a screening protocol.