A pulsatile blood vessel system for a femoral arterial access clinical simulation model.

The model-based, rapid-prototyping-enabled design and manufacture of a pulsatile blood vessel (PBV) for high-fidelity mannequin-based clinical simulations is presented. The PBV presented here is a pressurized, flexible tube with alternating fluid pressure created by a pump to mimic the behavior of a human vessel in response to pulsatile pressure. The use of PBVs is important for the fidelity of a clinical simulator that requires residents to palpate and/or access the vessel.