Tested in 100+ sessions
with families, patients, trainees and health teams
Our education tools turn complex heart anatomy into clear understanding
GORAN
Father
“Seeing the heart and the scale – it helped me understand. I felt calmer after.”
GREG KELLY
Intensivist at Sydney Children's Hospital
“I find it incredibly encouraging that we can now develop such beautiful and educational models from modern imaging data, and that these models offer massive advantages over real preserved specimens in terms of ethics, reproducibility and ease of storage and use.”
KATE HENDERSON
Nurse, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne
“There is only so much a family can take away from a 2D drawing. When they hold the 3D version of their child’s heart in their hands and are spoken through the different parts – a true understanding comes across their faces. It has been incredible to watch.”
DARREN HUTCHINSON
Head of Fetal Cardiology at The Royal Women's Hospital
“We currently rely on simple 2D drawings that cannot communicate the complexity of the 3D heart and its multiple possible malformations. These models enhance communication during complex prenatal consultations, helping families visualise cardiac anatomy and potential surgical pathways with greater clarity and confidence”
TAMINA
Mother
“Being able to hold the 3D model and see just how small the left ventricle is took my understanding of Lili’s heart condition to a whole new level.”
Parent statements
[ Shanum, 6 – Language Barrier ]
Shanum’s parents moved to Australia from Bangladesh in 2011. Shanum, now 6, was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome as a baby. Despite repeated explanations and diagrams, her father struggled to understand her condition...
Father's words: Our specialist "drew so many pictures of my daughter's heart. I did not understand but I felt ashamed to ask him to explain again because he might think I was dumb and I did not want him to feel bad. The models make me understand now what is going on with my daughter‘s heart.”
[ Jesse, newborn – Drawing vs Models ]
Jesse needed surgery at a few days of age – a surgeon sat down with the parents. They need to clearly understand the proposed surgery, why he needs it and the risks before agreeing to proceed. Jesse's parents see the KoH models for the first time after his first surgery.
Parents: "(the surgeon) had a printed picture with pen and paper diagrams that was hard to visualise... being shown a life-sized heart of what Jesse's would look like was easier to figure out what was happening and what will continue to happen.
[ Sage, newborn – Informed Consent ]
Brittany's daughter, Sage, was born with transposition of the great arteries, a form of CHD that has excellent outcomes but requires complex open-heart surgery in the first few days of life.
Mother's words: "the day before the surgeon came and … said he was going to do consent with me... he just went out into the hallway and there were tons of people around he's distracted and I'm distracted... you don't want to make a big deal and it's obvious he's in a hurry, so we went through that and signed off".
Our kits have been tested
during hospital training sessions, in interaction with families and been presented at international conferences.
KATE HENDERSON
Nurse, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne
“There is only so much a family can take away from a 2D drawing. When they hold the 3D version of their child’s heart in their hands and are spoken through the different parts – a true understanding comes across their faces. It has been incredible to watch.”
GREG KELLY
Intensivist at Sydney Children's Hospital
“I find it incredibly encouraging that we can now develop such beautiful and educational models from modern imaging data, and that these models offer massive advantages over real preserved specimens in terms of ethics, reproducibility and ease of storage and use.”
DARREN HUTCHINSON
Head of Fetal Cardiology at The Royal Women's Hospital
“We currently rely on simple 2D drawings that cannot communicate the complexity of the 3D heart and its multiple possible malformations. These models enhance communication during complex prenatal consultations, helping families visualise cardiac anatomy and potential surgical pathways with greater clarity and confidence”
GORAN
Father
“Seeing the heart and the scale – it helped me understand. I felt calmer after.”
TAMINA
Mother
“Being able to hold the 3D model and see just how small the left ventricle is took my understanding of Lili’s heart condition to a whole new level.”
What clinicians and health teams say
"We currently rely on simple 2D drawings that cannot communicate the complexity of the 3D heart and its multiple possible malformations. These models enhance communication during complex prenatal consultations, helping families visualise cardiac anatomy and potential surgical pathways with greater clarity and confidence."
Darren Hutchinson, Head of Fetal Cardiology, The Royal Women's Hospital — Melbourne, Australia
"There is only so much a family can take away from a 2D drawing. When they hold the 3D version of their child's heart in their hands and are spoken through the different parts, a true understanding comes across their faces. It has been incredible to watch."
Kate Henderson, Nurse, Royal Children's Hospital — Melbourne, Australia
"I find it incredibly encouraging that we can now develop such beautiful and educational models from modern imaging data, and that these models offer massive advantages over real preserved specimens in terms of ethics, reproducibility and ease of storage and use."
Greg Kelly, Intensivist, Sydney Children's Hospital — Sydney, Australia
"It reminded me of the morphology course specimens; there is no textbook able to substitute seeing the 3D anatomy to scale."
Javier Gavela, Consultant, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital — London, United Kingdom
Recently presented @
36th International Society of Ultrasound in Obstretrics and Gynaecology World Congress, London September 4-7, 2026
ISUOG 2026
13th World Congress of the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive & Critical Care Societies, Melbourne, September 26-30, 2026
WFPICCS ANZICS/ACCCN 2026
New Experimental Technologies
(NExT) Lab
Melbourne School of Design
The University of Melbourne
Parkville 3010, Victoria, Australia
© 2026 Heartrium
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