Laparoscopic Trainer for students and surgeons Collab. with Dr. Allen Mehr

Small disclaimer: Since Dr. Allen Mehr lives in Hawaii and I am currently in germany I had not real laparoscopic instruments at hand and therefore used some wooden rods for my fotos xD

Heyho

Last year Dr. Allen Mehr asked me to help him out, designing a laparoscopic trainer. 
The laparoscopic trainer is designed especially for students of medicine, residents, and surgeons who want to continually improve their skills and stay in shape between surgeries.
So I spent quite some time designing a easy printable Version of a laparoscopic trainer under the guidance of Dr. Allen Mahr that only needs a bare minimum of hardware and therefore can be reproduced at a very low cost. Perfect for students to get more training!

In addition to the printed parts you need:

• a piece of Kork with about 10 mm height and 200 mm in diameter.
• some laparoscopic instruments
• a camera incl. holder (you can use a cheap webcam or simply print a phone stand and use your smartphone)

The benefits of this trainer:

• Mobile or stationary usable
• small footprint/ lightweight
• very adjustable
• cheap components
• open to the public (new exercises/ parts can be added by 3rd partys)
• easy printable parts.
   

Material:
I tested all parts in PLA. But stronger materials should work fine too! 
 

Print Settings: 

I printed all parts in 0,2 mm layer height with a 0,4 mm Nozzle, 25% infill & 3-4 Perimeter.
Make sure your settings are dialed in good enough! I highly recommend to print a Temp. Tower first and destroy it to learn at what temperature your material is the toughest. Also a flow calibration may be useful if you have tolerance problems.

No supports needed. Clean your printbed to avoid a brim.

Individual Settings: I recommend using 100% infill with the M10 Screws!

Post Processing
 

If some parts are not fitting good and therefore create a lot of friction you can use some parrafin or other lubricant to lube the parts.

If you have a pronounced seam you can remove that with a sharp knife or file.
 

Parts Explanation & Tipps:
 

Base
The Base is designed to hold a 200 mm Corkpad as workspace. If you want to use the trainer stationary you can use some M3,5 - M4 wood screws to mount it onto a plate.

It is designed so it fits a MK3/ MK4 Prusa Printsheet.
 

BallHead
The BallHead is a print in place bearing to give your instruments a good freedom of movement with very little friction.
The opening in the BallHead is 6,8 mm in Diameter. I printed it with an aligned seam and cut that off after printing so it won't disturb the movement of the BallJoint!

Tower & TowerPin & Tower DistanceJig
The Tower is designed to be adjusted in similar ways. You can adapt the height of the balljoint by pulling out the TowerPin and choosing a fitting height.
The DistanceJig defines the distance between the Tower and the Base.

Slider & SliderPin
The Slider Can be inserted from the opening at the right side of the pictures above. If installed properly it provides new possibilities to position the towers in different angles and add new/ other Tools.

The Pin holds the whole assembly in place. Make sure to add all M10Slider in place before you close the Slider itself.

M10Slider & M10 Screw

The M10 Slider is designed to provide the system with as minimal play as possible but also still being movable. The M10 Screw holds the DistanceJig in place. Lateralforces will be absorbed by design to relieve the screw itself.

Also you can adjust the angle of the Towers in different steps with this Design.
 

Cork185mm Adapter
Just a simple Adapter for Cork Pads with 185 mm Diameter. I can also add other Adapter if you have no 200 mm ones available.

BookHolder
Since 3D printed parts are quite lightweight I designed some BookHolder to add some weight to the Trainer and give it more stability this way. You can also use the BookHolder to fixate the tower in place with a Screw.

The rearholder can be screwed to the base with M3 screws if necessary.

FrontHolder
The FrontHolder is designed for a stationary use if you would like to change the angle of the towers but still want more stability. You can screw the FrontHolder to a plate with M3,5/ M4 screws.

Have fun!

Addons: 

1. Exercise Set
https://www.printables.com/model/1026981-exercise-for-laparoscopic-trainer-medical-students

2. Dragon Gripper
https://www.printables.com/model/1026999-dragon-gripper-arm-for-laparoscopic-trainer

If you like my work and would like to support future free projects I would appreciate a small tip!

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/MeisterEdel
 

If you have any wishes or suggestions for improvements/addons such as skill exercises, please feel free to add them in the comments!