Dual-degree Miller School Medical Student Creates 3D Microsurgical Training Tool
M.D./Ph.D. student Charles Alver used his biomedical engineering knowledge and a Miller School team science approach to create a model of the vas deferens.
Dual-degree student Charles Alver recently completed his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and returned to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine to complete the final two years of his M.D./Ph.D. degree.
While finishing his Ph.D., Dr. Alver worked with Ashutosh Agarwal, Ph.D., co-director of Engineering Cancer Cures at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the Miller School. The duo created a 3D-printed, microsurgical training tool that will primarily be used in training for vasectomy reversals.
We talked with Dr. Alver to see how the tool was created and its potential impact on health care.
Can you describe the tool you helped invent?
The microsurgical training tool we designed models the size and structure of the vas deferens, which carries sperm out of the testes. The vas deferens is the tube that is cut during a vasectomy as a form of male contraception.
Each year, roughly 500,000 U.S. men undergo a vasectomy procedure and approximately 30,000 seek a vasectomy reversal. While many urologists can successfully perform a vasectomy, there are not as many urologists who are comfortable with performing a vasectomy reversal due to the need for strong microsurgical skills.
The vas deferens model I designed provides urologists with an inexpensive, risk-free training tool that can be manufactured using materials and technologies available in most medical training centers.
Our microsurgical training tool could expand access to vasectomy reversal training and other microsurgical skills to physicians at earlier stages in their training.
How was your experience working with Dr. Agarwal?
This project presented a unique and engaging opportunity to experience the interplay between designing a tool as a bioengineer and using the tool in a clinical setting as a physician. To create this microsurgical training tool, Dr. Agarwal and the urology team facilitated iterative feedback cycles between the engineering and clinical teams.
I worked one-on-one with clinicians in the operating room to better understand the surgical context and environment we were trying to replicate with our model of the vas deferens throughout the build process. Desai Sethi Urology Institute clinicians provided invaluable feedback on what could be improved with our design to make the final microsurgical training tool mimic the experience of performing microsurgery on a vas deferens.
What resources were available at the Miller School that enabled you and your team to complete this work?
The Miller School and the Desai Sethi Urology Institute were instrumental in developing this vas deferens model. Our goal was to design a microsurgical training tool using only low-cost and readily available materials that could be found in any medical training facility. As such, we utilized 3D resin printers, ovens and vacuum chambers.
The most valuable resource that the Miller School provided was the expertise of its residents and clinicians, who gave feedback on the utility of our tool during the design process and their clinical perspectives on how this training tool would be used and what would be most helpful for physicians.
You returned to the Miller School after completing your Ph.D. Why is it essential for you to finish medical school?
As a future physician-scientist, it is imperative to me that I gain a proper understanding of the intricacies and complexities of medicine. My goal is to pursue a career as a practicing urologist and work toward developing new medical devices to minimize surgical risks, improve patient recovery time and results and develop better solutions for urologic issues.
This project has shown me how important it is to understand the clinical context and uses of medical technologies, in addition to my engineering perspective.
Why an M.D./Ph.D degree?
As a student in the University of Miami’s Medical Scientist Training Program and a recipient of the National Institute of Health’s F31 Fellowship Award, I have dedicated myself to pursuing expertise in medicine and biomedical engineering. It is of the utmost importance for engineers, especially biomedical engineers, to understand the needs of the end users of their products.
In my dual-degree program at the Miller School of Medicine, I can gain practical knowledge of translational science through programs like the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) to focus on both the development and use of tools and devices. I aim to eliminate inherent inefficiencies and communication gaps between the engineers who design medical devices and the physicians who will eventually use them.
What is practical and efficient in an engineering lab may not be practical in a clinical environment or operating room. In the future, my experience as a physician will allow me to design better products and communicate with empathy across these specialized fields to develop more beneficial medical tools and devices from bench to bedside.
How would you describe your experience at the Miller School of Medicine?
I am grateful to the Miller School of Medicine for the opportunity to pursue my passions in a flexible, dual-degree program. Through my experience, I have met dedicated physicians, scientists and engineers who have supported my development as a physician-scientist and have taken an interest in my unique pathway.
I am particularly grateful to Dr. Agarwal, who understood and embraced the complexities of mentoring a physician-scientist and encouraged me to collaborate with clinicians on various biomedical engineering projects at every opportunity.
I am also very grateful to Alessia Fornoni, M.D., Ph.D., director and chair of the Peggy and Harold Katz Family Drug Discovery Center, for her leadership and guidance in the Miller School of Medicine’s Medical Scientist Training Program because she fosters a community of learning that strives to push the boundaries of conventional approaches and research beyond what has previously been done by other physician-scientists.
Tags: Desai Sethi Urology Institute, Dr. Ashutosh Agarwal, dual degrees, M.D./M.P.H. Program, medical education, student research, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center