Project Overview

Retained placenta occurs in approximately 3 percent of deliveries and is occasionally associated with life-threatening hemorrhage. Currently, this skill is taught through reading, video and rarely with supervised experience when need for the procedure arises in clinical care. There is no existing training simulator that allows for the sensory-motor skill development important for competence and confidence performing this procedure. A simulator for manual extraction of the placenta could have broad impact through incorporation into the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) course, which has been taken by over 160,000 maternity care providers in over 66 countries since it was developed in the UW Department of Family and Community Medicine in 1991.

Innovative UW Biomedical Engineering students are needed to develop the above simulator. A trip to labor and delivery at St. Mary’s Hospital will allow BME students to have a realistic understanding of placental anatomy. BME students will be given an existent mold for a uterus and placenta. Their job will be to create appropriate adhesion forces by incorporating small magnets into the placenta and uterus. Sensors will also be embedded and connected to software so those observing the placental extraction can see on a monitor what is occurring within the uterus. BME students will also need to develop an option of simulating a placenta acreta where the placenta has grown into the uterus and cannot be removed without dangerous hemorrhage. This project will have a $1000 budget.

Team Picture

File

• Placenta Extraction Model - Executive Summary (April 22, 2016)

Contact Information

Team Members

• Aaron Sonderman - Team Leader
• Bridget Smith - Communicator
• Alexander Mccunn - BSAC
• Mensah Amuzu - BWIG
• Zachary Katsulis - BPAG

Advisor and Client

• Dr. Tom Yen - Advisor
• Dr. Lee Dresang - Client

Related Projects

• Spring 2016: Manual extraction of placenta training simulator
• Fall 2015: Placenta extraction model