High-Fidelity Physical Organ Simulators: From Artificial to Bio-Hybrid Solutions

Over the past decade, there has been growing interest in high-fidelity simulation for medical applications leading to huge research efforts towards physical organ simulators with realistic representations of human organs. As this is a relatively young research field, this review aims to provide an insight into the current state of the art in high-fidelity physical organ simulators that are used for training purposes, as educational tools, for biomechanical studies, and for preclinical device testing. Motivated by a paucity of clear definitions and categorization of various simulators, we describe high-fidelity physical organ simulators in terms of their degree of representation of the anatomy, material properties, and physiological behavior of the target organs in the context of their applications. We highlight the traditional approaches for static organ simulators using synthetic materials, and diverse approaches for dynamic organ simulators including soft robotic,
ex vivo
, and biohybrid strategies to meet the ever-increasing demand for realistic anthropomorphic organ models. Finally, we discuss challenges and potential future avenues in the field of high-fidelity physical organ simulators.