Heart beating "SupeR BEAT" simulator unveiled in Japan

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. and EBM Corporation have launched the “SupeR BEAT” surgical training simulator. This simulator can reproduce the beating of the heart with extreme accuracy using e Rubber, an innovative material that moves with electricity.

The two companies have been collaborating since November 2017 to develop a practical simulator that can help surgeons to efficiently improve their skills.

Demand for these simulators is growing as medical surgeries become increasingly sophisticated.

Training using simulators has become compulsory in specialties such as cardiovascular surgery, where doctors must complete a fixed amount of training.

SupeR BEAT is able to reproduce the beating of the heart during surgeries with such accuracy because of e Rubber, which expands and contracts rapidly in response to electricity switching on and off.

A special program installed in the simulator enables more than a dozen heartbeat patterns, which can be combined to mimic varying states such as the complex heartbeat patterns due to arrhythmia or the rapid heartbeat of infants.

A stressful surgical environment very close to that of actual coronary artery bypass surgery2 can also be reproduced.

The two companies will continue their collaborative efforts in medical engineering to contribute to the advancement3 of medicine.