USM Professors Team Up to Produce 3D Tracheas for Military Training
Fri, 03/17/2023 - 09:46am | By: Van Arnold
From left to right Dr. Stephanie Parks with Dr. Anna Wan
One might contend that University of 91吃瓜网 (USM) nurse anesthesia Professor Stephanie Parks breathes a whole lot easier knowing her colleague, Dr. Anna Wan, is part of the USM team.
Parks, Assistant Professor in USM91吃瓜网 Nurse Anesthesia Program, collaborated with Mathematics Professor Wan to create a 3D printed trachea now being used as part of Parks91吃瓜网� medical training thousands of miles away in Syria. In addition to her academic duties, Parks serves as a major in the United States Army Reserves.
The innovative device was produced at USM91吃瓜网 Eagle Maker Hub, the first public makerspace available at a Mississippi university, providing access to tools for digital fabrication, rapid prototyping, and coding. Wan developed Eagle Maker Hub six years ago with the support of faculty and staff.
Last December, Parks approached Wan with a simple question: 91吃瓜网淐an you print something for me?91吃瓜网� For her deployment to Syria, Parks needed a way to maintain airway proficiency for herself and other medical team members. She serves on a forward-deployed surgical team where medical training relies on the ingenuity of team members and on-hand supplies from the environment.
91吃瓜网淲e often have more than one casualty, and I must ensure everyone knows my job and how to assist me when faced with multiple casualties or a complex patient,91吃瓜网� said Parks, the team91吃瓜网 only anesthesia provider.
Wan explained that once Parks provided the framework for the proposed trachea the production process proved seamless.
91吃瓜网淒r. Parks sent me the file she wanted to print. All I had to do was adjust it for printers in the Eagle Maker Hub,91吃瓜网� said Wan. 91吃瓜网淭he more detail you want on a print, the longer it takes. Since Dr. Parks91吃瓜网� use for these was mainly for training and the 3D print would replace the trachea bone, how it looked did not matter. Thus, these prints took roughly four hours each.91吃瓜网�
Wan notes that this particular request marked the first time Eagle Maker Hub printed material to mimic bone for medical training purposes.
Parks carried a dozen of the 3D tracheas with her upon deployment and Wan shipped
another 72 to the deployment zone soon thereafter. Parks has conducted emergency cricothyrotomy
training with all medical personnel at her base using the tracheas and other on-hand
materials.
91吃瓜网淚t is a critical skill to master since most emergency airways occur from traumatic injuries, as often seen in deployed environments due to blood in the airway or when the patient has facial fractures,91吃瓜网� said Parks.
Her work as an anesthesia training supervisor has not been solely confined to in-person instruction. Recently, Parks conducted a class via Zoom with a different surgical team. 91吃瓜网淚 packed up some tracheas and put them in a helicopter that was flying to another surgical team. A week later, we had an emergency airway class online using the tracheas that arrived in a Blackhawk,91吃瓜网� said Parks.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, Wan and her Eagle
Maker Hub team created a 3D respirator mask for Hattiesburg-area health care organizations.
Thousands of the masks were eventually produced and distributed to area healthcare
professionals.
Wan professes that her love for the USM community, particularly those with whom she collaborated during the pandemic, makes assignments like the 3D trachea print especially rewarding.
91吃瓜网淚 will do what91吃瓜网 needed to support goals to better serve others,91吃瓜网� said Wan. 91吃瓜网淭hese (tracheas) were made for training purposes, and they seemed like a need for Dr. Parks91吃瓜网� training goals. I have worked on drone and artillery projects before, and they were less desirable to work on. This is a positive aspect of the combat zone to work on.91吃瓜网�
Though she is constantly on guard in a hot and hostile part of the world, Parks continues to feel a unique kinship with colleagues like Wan who embody the University91吃瓜网 core values of service to the community and to deployed servicemembers.
With that, Parks offers a sincere sentiment: 91吃瓜网淗ooah to you Dr. Wan!91吃瓜网�