{"id":47161,"date":"2026-05-14T12:19:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/cle\/?post_type=news&p=47161"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:20:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:20:49","slug":"training-tools-neonatal-care","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/cle\/news\/training-tools-neonatal-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Hocus POCUS: Hopkins undergraduates create neonatal training tools for point-of-care ultrasounds and other procedures"},"content":{"rendered":"

When faced with serious medical conditions in infants, neonatologists often turn to point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) as a life-saving tool. POCUS offers targeted, bedside scans that produce rapid results, unlike traditional ultrasounds that provide comprehensive diagnostic reports, which must be interpreted by a radiologist.<\/p>\n

Technicians\u00a0train\u00a0to\u00a0perform medical procedures like\u00a0POCUS with\u00a0a device called a\u00a0training phantom, or\u00a0a\u00a0realistic simulation of anatomy or tissue that allows\u00a0trainees to practice without risk to patients.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through\u00a0a\u00a0year-long collaboration with\u00a0<\/span>Johns Hopkins Hospital<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0fourth-year students Allison Booher (biomedical engineering) and Alexa\u202fVelezFonseca\u00a0(chemical and biomolecular engineering) and\u00a0third-year\u00a0students\u00a0Grace Guan\u00a0(applied mathematics and statistics) and\u00a0Sebastian Tabares Erices\u00a0(mechanical engineering)\u00a0observed that\u00a0most training phantoms do\u00a0not adequately prepare technicians to perform ultrasounds on infants.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The student team was matched with project partners at JH Hospital in the two-semester course Multidisciplinary Engineering Design, where they worked closely with Dr. May Chen, director of the Neonatal Point-of-Care Ultrasound Program. The team also interviewed technicians and observed POCUS training sessions at the JHMI Children\u2019s Center, through which they learned that the size and accuracy of the training phantoms were inadequate to train technicians on many neonatal procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraining phantoms for POCUS are typically adult-sized and do not reflect the unique anatomy of neonates,\u201d said Guan. \u201cCommercial, neonate-sized training phantoms usually only focus on one function and are extremely expensive or employ simplified designs that do not entirely replicate the look of various anatomical features.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A

The team observes a point-of-care ultrasound on a training phantom.<\/p><\/div>\n

To address issues of accuracy and affordability,\u00a0the team\u00a0designed a\u00a0neonatal training phantom for POCUS that is anatomically\u202faccurate,\u00a0accessible, and inexpensive.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team\u2019s first challenge was to scale down the anatomy of a training phantom, while also maintaining detail and complexity. \u201cA baby\u2019s heart is about the size of a walnut and the veins are around 3 millimeters in diameter and collapse under very little pressure,\u201d Tabares Erices said.<\/p>\n

Aside from\u00a0nailing down the\u00a0finer\u00a0details\u00a0of infant anatomy,\u00a0materials and manufacturing processes created\u00a0additional\u00a0challenges.\u00a0To successfully train technicians to\u00a0perform\u00a0POCUS, the phantom needed to resemble human\u00a0tissue\u00a0\u201cto an ultrasound, not just to the human eye,\u201d Tabares Erices said.\u202f\u201cUsing the wrong material or even minor manufacturing artifacts, like tiny bubbles or\u202fstring, can\u202fcreate shadows\u202fand white spots\u202fthat\u202fmake it hard to\u202fidentify\u202fanatomy\u202fwith the ultrasound.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through experimenting with various processes, including 3D printing, molding and casting, working with polymeric silicone, and studying POCUS techniques, the team developed a multi-step method to produce various molds and outer shells that mimic actual tissue and affect echogenicity, or the ability of materials to reflect ultrasound waves. This process \u201cwas driven by frequently working and testing with end users for feedback and rapid incorporation and interation,\u201d said VelezFonseca.<\/p>\n

\"Team

The team experimenting with materials in the iteration process of designing their neonatal POCUS training phantom.<\/p><\/div>\n

While they were able to develop a\u00a0detailed and responsive prototype, multiple\u00a0casting steps\u00a0made\u00a0the process complex and expensive. The\u00a0team\u00a0then\u00a0considered\u00a0how to manufacture\u00a0their neonatal training phantoms more efficiently\u00a0and accessibly, including providing documentation and video tutorials of the process to clinicians so that they can reproduce phantoms on their own.\u00a0\u201cOur end goal is for any clinician to be able to manufacture these high-fidelity\u00a0models themselves\u00a0without breaking the bank,\u201d Tabares Erices said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0students\u00a0are\u00a0now designing a line of phantoms, including a\u00a0neonatal pericardial effusion model, a neonatal vein model, and a neonatal spinal model, all of which are novel for their size or improve\u202fupon existing commercial phantoms.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team recently presented their prototype at Design Day on Tuesday, April 28 and were awarded the Dean\u2019s Design Award for the Center for Leadership Education. The award recognizes undergraduate projects that identify and solve complex engineering problems, and demonstrate creativity in the design process, effective communication skills, and a thorough understanding of the underlying engineering principles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-47161","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHocus POCUS: Hopkins undergraduates create neonatal training tools for point-of-care ultrasounds and other procedures - Center for Leadership Education<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/cle\/news\/training-tools-neonatal-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hocus POCUS: Hopkins undergraduates create neonatal training tools for point-of-care ultrasounds and other procedures - Center for Leadership Education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When faced with serious medical conditions in infants, neonatologists often turn to point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) as a life-saving tool. 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