Medtronic is the world’s largest medical technology company that manufactures cardiac devices, cranial and spine robotics, surgical tools, patient monitoring systems, and more. ME 28 was tasked with fabricating an esophageal testing model for the development of their surgical staplers. The project focused on the modeling and development of a physical esophageal model with accurate human anatomy since one does not currently exist. ME 28 designed a CAD model of the region and its necessary components with anatomically correct dimensions provided by Medtronic. All components were 3-D printed except the esophagus which is composed of replaceable LifeLike BioTissue bowels. To validate the bowel selection, the mechanical properties of LifeLike BioTissue were recorded and compared to porcine esophagi through tensile testing and inflation testing. The assembled model was validated with a successful passing of a 25 mm anvil through the model. This project is a joint project with BME.

Our team collaborated with Biomedical Engineering 17 on this project.