RSD Needle Placement Phantom Frequently Asked Questions
The RSD Needle Placement Phantom was developed for learning and honing skills for proper needle placement for a variety of interventional techniques. The RSD Needle Placement Phantom was not intended for radiopaque dye injection flow patterns. The RSD Needle Placement Phantom has no hollow organs or vasculature.
Q: Who are the "likely users" for the RSD Needle Placement Phantom?- Educational facilities offering Anesthesiology Residency
- Educational facilities offering Radiology Residency Programs
- Physicians who are involved in Pain Management - practitioners and educators
- Anyone who conducts symposia to provide hands-on training experience
- Specialists who are interested in expanding their opportunities by treating pain management - Orthopedic Surgeons, Radiologists, and Internists
RSD Needle Placement Phantom is not a real person. He is also not a cadaver. Accordingly, he will have some limitations. It is best to think of RSD Needle Placement Phantom as a simulation tool where initial positioning of the needle, route to the site of interest, and actual practice routine can be perfected through repeated application.
Alternatives to the RSD Needle Placement Phantom include:
- Practice on live patients - a real "no-no"
- Use of cadavers - expensive ($2,000 - $2,500) - messy - mal-odor - limits to usage before severe degradation
- Proceed without practice at all - not very wise
Use the RSD Needle Placement Phantom as often as you wish. The RSD Needle Placement Phantom is asexual – it is designed for many (hundreds at least) needle sticks at the various points of access. Once a physician practices for a weekend at a symposium, they probably have the ability to proceed as they will be working on real patients in the future. If an individual buys the RSD Needle Placement Phantom, they can use it as often as needed for practice, storing the RSD Needle Placement Phantom in a closet between uses. The RSD Needle Placement Phantom provides the individual with a tool at hand to use when there is desire to learn different sites, train a colleague, or hold a symposium. Entrepreneurial physicians or physician groups will find the RSD Needle Placement Phantom to be an economical investment in the long run. Because the RSD Needle Placement Phantom can be used over and over, it keeps on giving to the educational opportunity.
Q: How much expertise can one really gain from working with the RSD Needle Placement Phantom?
There are always different skill levels associated with any hands-on process and there is no magic instance method of learning, so due diligence and honesty about one's ability is needed. Like any thing in life, the more time one spends practicing, the better skill level achieved.
Q: My fluoro images don’t look like those in your promotional material?
The images in the PD Sheet were obtained with top-of-the-line commercially available mobile image intensifier system that was properly calibrated and positioned in relation to the RSD Needle Placement Phantom. You are capable of similar quality given similar circumstances.
Q: The skin feels different than real skin, is that a problem?
The skin is not real and the feel is, of course, different for that reason. If you push the needle fast and hard, the RSD Needle Placement Phantom' tissues will push back. That is not a bad thing. You need to practice going slower and easier. If you push the needle that fast and hard on a real patient, you are being too rough and may hurt someone. Cosmetically, the skin color of the RSD Needle Placement Phantom should not be an issue, either. In practice, the injection site is covered in Betadine and is not the way it really looks anyways. Caudal injections (caudal canal at the base of the spinal canal) are difficult to simulate exactly. The feel of putting the needle in is not as smooth as a live person. Also, tight muscle on a real person due to pain or fear can be rough if you push. Again, doctors need to go easier on their needle skills. Cadavers are not real, either, and one knows and accepts that fact when using a cadaver for practice. In fact, skeletal alignment in elderly patients is often difficult to access and navigate – and the physician makes adjustments. If you can successfully place the needle in the RSD Needle Placement Phantom, you should be able to do that in live patients.
Q: The bones seem to have artificats in them and some ribs are missing?
The bones are synthetic and have synthetic artifacts. They are simulations of real bone, like all RSD Phantoms. Any artifacts noticed do not diminish the usefulness of the RSD Needle Placement Phantom as a guidance tool. Skeletal articulations that permit joint or spinal motions and ribs 2 to 9 were eliminated as superfluous in the design of the RSD Needle Placement Phantom.