Written by Rosie Laydon - 15-09-2015

One of the standout exhibits in the Medical Innovation Zone at DSEI this year is a brand new surgical prototype, an extremely life-like latex model of a blast victim which functions exactly like a real human body.

Back in June I was lucky enough to see two highly-experienced defence medics 'operate' on it at the Royal College of Surgeons. The new model has been created by a specialist team at Swansea University led by Professor Ian Pallister. Built from a bespoke design based on CAT scans of a real patient, the prototype is made from latex and toughened plastic and costs about £10,000 to make.

The idea behind this is to hold onto the big advances that were made in Defence medicine during the British deployment to Afghanistan.

Surgeons were dealing with these kind of life-changing injuries on a regular basis and as their skills grew there were an increasing number of so-called "unlikely survivors". With that deployment at an end the defence medical service is looking at alternative ways of keeping skills fresh. The operating theatre was filled with service medics on a training course, used to practising on dead bodies.

The students were impressed by the realism of the model, the key difference being that the synthetic torso bleeds and responds to being operated on like a live casualty. The MoD has yet to commit to ordering more of these models, but the realism and accuracy of the prototype make a compelling case for introducing them as a regular part of training.