TissueDB/Materials/Animal Blood Vessel

Animal blood vessel is an artery dissected from a raw poultry specimen — most often the brachial artery of a chicken or turkey wing — used as a low-cost, tissue-realistic substitute for a human vessel in microsurgical anastomosis training. A fresh avian brachial artery has a wall thickness, calibre and handling feel close to small human cerebral or peripheral arteries, so a trainee can cut, clip and suture a real vessel wall at a fraction of the cost of cadaveric or commercial models. The specimen is matched to the target vessel by calibre — chicken wing or chicken brachial artery (about 1 mm) for smaller recipients, turkey brachial artery (about 1.0–1.5 mm) for larger donors.

Tissues

Tissue	Visual	Tactile	Simulator	Notes
Distal anterior cerebral artery (pericallosal branches)	Yes	Yes	Grapefruit dACA Bypass Simulator	Chicken wing brachial artery; one wing yields two 5–6 cm segments matched in calibre for the side-to-side dACA anastomosis. Adventitia stripped ~1 mm each end; ends cannulated over 2.5 cm angiocatheters and tied with 3-0 nylon; anastomosis with 10-0 nylon. Self-cannulated synthetic tubing is the reusable alternative when fresh wing is unavailable.^[1]
Superficial temporal artery (STA, donor)	Partial	Partial	STA-MCA Bypass Trainer (Akdag)	Turkey brachial artery as the donor STA proxy — a 5–6 cm segment about 1.0–1.5 mm in calibre, chosen because it is close to the human STA; microbranches ligated with 10-0 sutures and replaced fresh each session (about US$2 per vessel).^[2]
Middle cerebral artery (MCA, M4 recipient)	Partial	Partial	STA-MCA Bypass Trainer (Akdag)	Chicken brachial artery as the recipient MCA-M4 proxy, about 1 mm in calibre, isolated between two microclips for the arteriotomy (about US$1 per vessel). ⚑ Source note: Akdag Table 2 lists this as "chicken femoral artery" while the body text says brachial — the body text is taken as authoritative.^[2]

Used In Simulators

Simulator	Purpose	Notes
Grapefruit dACA Bypass Simulator	Paired pericallosal (dACA) vessels	Chicken wing brachial artery joined side-to-side for distal ACA bypass practice (Cikla et al. 2020).^[1]
STA-MCA Bypass Trainer (Akdag)	STA donor + MCA-M4 recipient	Turkey brachial artery (donor) paired with chicken brachial artery (recipient) for end-to-side cerebral bypass anastomosis (Akdag et al. 2024).^[2]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Cikla U, Rowley P, Jennings Simoes EL, Ozaydin B, Goodman SL, Avci E, Baskaya MK, Patel NJ. Grapefruit Training Model for Distal Anterior Cerebral Artery Side-to-Side Bypass. World Neurosurgery 2020;138:39–51. DOI 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.02.107. PMID 32109640.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Akdag BA, Akdag B, Ikizoglu E, Husemoglu B, Kizmazoglu C, Aydin HE, Ozer E. A Novel Training Model for Superficial Temporal Artery–Middle Cerebral Artery Anastomosis Using Microsurgical Techniques. World Neurosurgery 2024;190:e665–e674. DOI 10.1016/j.wneu.2024.07.200. PMID 39098505.

At a Glance

Overview

Animal blood vessels are harvested fresh from poultry wings bought from a butcher or grocer (a wing costs roughly US$1–2 and yields one or two usable arterial segments). Preparation is by microdissection: expose the brachial artery, cut a 5–6 cm segment, ligate the side branches under magnification, and strip about 1 mm of adventitia from each end, following the established chicken-wing microvascular harvesting technique.^[1] Use fresh where possible — vessel quality is higher than from thawed specimens — and harvest close to the time of use. Each segment is single-use and discarded via biological-waste protocol after the session.

Synonyms

Common names: Chicken wing brachial artery, chicken brachial artery, turkey brachial artery, avian brachial artery, poultry artery. The specimen (chicken wing, chicken, or turkey) is chosen by calibre to match the target human vessel.

Background

Clinical Context for Simulation

Processing & Preparation

Safety Considerations

Related Materials

Page data
Keywords	animal blood vessel, chicken wing brachial artery, turkey brachial artery, microvascular anastomosis, microsurgery training, cerebral bypass, low-cost vessel substitute
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Authors	Arturopelayo
License	CC-BY-SA-4.0
Language	English (en)
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Created	July 2, 2026 by Arturo Pelayo
Last edit	July 2, 2026 by StandardWikitext bot
Cite as	Arturopelayo (2026). "TissueDB/Materials/Animal Blood Vessel". Appropedia. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
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↑ Hino A, Batjer HH, Schackert G, et al. Training in microvascular surgery using a chicken wing artery. Neurosurgery 2003;52:1495–1498. PMID 12762892.

[cikla_2020-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Cikla U, Rowley P, Jennings Simoes EL, Ozaydin B, Goodman SL, Avci E, Baskaya MK, Patel NJ. Grapefruit Training Model for Distal Anterior Cerebral Artery Side-to-Side Bypass. World Neurosurgery 2020;138:39–51. DOI 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.02.107. PMID 32109640.

[akdag_2024-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Akdag BA, Akdag B, Ikizoglu E, Husemoglu B, Kizmazoglu C, Aydin HE, Ozer E. A Novel Training Model for Superficial Temporal Artery–Middle Cerebral Artery Anastomosis Using Microsurgical Techniques. World Neurosurgery 2024;190:e665–e674. DOI 10.1016/j.wneu.2024.07.200. PMID 39098505.

[hino_2003-3] Hino A, Batjer HH, Schackert G, et al. Training in microvascular surgery using a chicken wing artery. Neurosurgery 2003;52:1495–1498. PMID 12762892.

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