An Inexpensive and Ultrasound‐Compatible Lumbar Puncture Model Using SCOBY as an Effective Simulation Tool: The DIY LP Study

Gisela A. Kristono; Henry Li; Peter Watts; Melita Macdonald; Alice Rogan; Brad Peckler

doi:10.1111/1742-6723.70101

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An Inexpensive and Ultrasound‐Compatible Lumbar Puncture Model Using SCOBY as an Effective Simulation Tool: The DIY LP Study

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An Inexpensive and Ultrasound‐Compatible Lumbar Puncture Model Using SCOBY as an Effective Simulation Tool: The DIY LP Study

Gisela A. Kristono, Henry Li, Peter Watts, Melita Macdonald, Alice Rogan and Brad Peckler

Emergency medicine Australasia, Vol.37(4), e70101

22/07/2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.70101

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/10523/47308

Abstract

lumbar puncture

medical education

simulation model

Objectives: Lumbar puncture (LP) simulators have high costs and suboptimal realism. This study aimed to develop an affordable, high-fidelity and ultrasound-compatible model. Methods: We created a LP Simulator using three-dimensional printing, silicon, ballistic gel and symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). This was an observational study comparing the DIY-LP to a commercial simulator. Pre- and post-surveys were done. Results: A total of 18 emergency medicine doctors (12 junior and six senior) participated in the study. Ten participants (56%; five junior doctors and five consultants) were successful with the DIY-LP simulator within the first two attempts without ultrasound guidance, compared with 13 participants (72%; seven junior doctors and six consultants) for the commercial simulator (p-value 0.49). The majority of participants agreed that both models were useful as educational tools. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated a low-cost and ultrasound-compatible LP model that is comparable to a commercial LP simulator.

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Record Identifier: 9926758236401891
Title: An Inexpensive and Ultrasound‐Compatible Lumbar Puncture Model Using SCOBY as an Effective Simulation Tool: The DIY LP Study
Creators: Gisela A. Kristono
Henry Li
Peter Watts
Melita Macdonald
Alice Rogan
Brad Peckler
Publication Details: Emergency medicine Australasia, Vol.37(4), e70101
Academic Unit: Surgery and Critical Care (UOW); Office of the Head of Faculty (Medicine)
Publisher: Wiley
Date published ; e-published: 22/07/2025
Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s) 2025. This work was first published in Emergency Medicine Australasia (Wiley). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed to the creator(s) and the source, is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way, and a link to the Creative Commons license is provided.
Language: English
Resource Type ; Subtype: Journal article