Defense Department Study on Mannequins Would Improve Surgeon Training

What do surgeons practice on? Mannequins, hopefully. But in the military, where “train as you fight” is the watchword, realism can be sorely lacking.

That's why the Department of Defense is funding a study by the American College of Surgeons with help from the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota. The group is studying a new platform to simulate surgery, injury and patient assessment at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD). The center's staff tested the Advanced Module Mannequin (AMM) last month, according to a Navy news release.

AMM lets trainers exchange limbs or parts on the mannequin based on which injury or procedure will be practiced, instead of using a completely different mannequin.

"The hope [is] to get to a point where one training mannequin is all that's needed, and those who run training scenarios can adjust the mannequin according to whichever scenario they're trying to mimic," Daniel McConnell, a NMCSD's bio-skills training and simulation center training specialist, said in the news release. "Theoretically, the ACS and AMM aim to create a completely integrated training mannequin."

Related: Ranger Medics Save Lives in Afghanistan with Blood Transfusions While Under Fire

AMM lets surgeons operate directly on the simulated patient, eliminating the use of a "cut suit" - a backpack-like device on a mannequin that mimics human anatomy. It also gives simulated vital signs in real time, eliminating the need to have a trainer list them off.

As AMM enters its testing phase, DoD officials are hoping this will serve as a new way for surgical and trauma teams to maintain their skills outside of the operating room.

Capt. Gordon Wisbach, NMCSD bio-skills training and simulation center surgical director, said in a news release he's looking forward to seeing how the project progresses.

"It's hard to appreciate it when you view the study within this isolated capacity, but as time goes on, data gets released and we start talking about the next steps," Wisbach said.

The study is currently recruiting surgeons to try it out so ACS can make modifications based on their feedback and survey responses.

Congratulations to teammate Alyssa Schul

Science & Technology Showcase Reaches New Heights

It’s not often the grand prize entry in a showcase is kept hidden under a sheet. Then again, you wouldn’t take modesty into account at a hospital while trying to solve a sensitive medical issue like poorly inserted urinary catheters. That’s where the innovative—and hyper-realistic—training prototype from bioengineering student Alyssa Schul comes into play. The CREST Urethral Catheter Simulator earned her the $1,000 Premera Grand Prize at the 2020 Science and Technology Showcase at the University of Washington. Judges also awarded Schul a $100 Davis Wright Tremaine Best Communicator Prize at the 14th annual competition co-hosted by the Science and Engineering Business Association (SEBA) and the Foster School’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship.

CREST Partners Featured in Medical Training Magazine

Jason Speich, CREST Artificial Tissue Lab Director, with a prototype of the Advanced Modular Manikin.

Photo credit: http://www.dailyuw.com/science/article_7d350920-1da5-11e7-859f-fb7a6b15bb56.html

Dr. Robert Sweet was recently interviewed by Group Editor of Medical Training Magazine, Marty Kauchak, about the latest updates on The Advanced Modular Manikin™ project. AMM™ is a Department of Defense funded project, driven by the UW Medicine Center for Research in Education and Simulation Technologies (CREST).

The AMM program is creating open-source standards that will allow healthcare simulation and training development groups to build training devices and enabling systems, which are interoperable and unified by the operating system. Dr. Robert Sweet, the AMM Phase 2 principal investigator, reflected on the genesis of AMM and noted: “It was a brilliant and timely move by JPC-1. I think it will allow the healthcare simulation industry to mature and evolve more rapidly as far as leveraging the capabilities of the greater community, rather than being ‘siloed’ within companies or academic labs that have fixed configuration options, different standards and limited functionality.”

Read the article here.

Welcome Eduardo Martín Palavecino, MD, FACS

Welcome Eduardo Martín Palavecino, MD, FACS, our newest WISH ACS AEI Simulation Fellow*. Dr. Palavecino comes to us from the Hospital Italiano School Medicine in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There, he serves as a Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary surgeon, Assistant Faculty member, and coordinator in the surgical simulation center.

In his time with UW Medicine WISH, Dr. Palavecino will be involved in development research in his clinical foci, setting up and training surgical courses at all WISH sites, learning and developing administrative skills, and developing and performing validity trials and designing curricula.

In his personal time, Dr. Palavecino enjoys literature (favorite authors include Umberto Eco and Jorge Luis Borges), traveling (totaling 36 countries, 266 cities, 1.1 million km), music (favorites artists are Radiohead and Sergei Rachmaninoff) and having fun with friends and colleagues.

*Dr. Palavecino is an Assistant Professor at the Hospital Italiano School of Medicine, and therefore is not technically a fellow. Dr. Palavecino is officially in the role of Visiting Assistant Professor with the Department of Surgery.

UW Medicine WISH and CREST receive Seattle Business Magazine 2019 Leaders in Healthcare Gold Award in Achievement in Medical Technology

photo by Hayley Young

UW Medicine CREST and WISH receives Gold Award for Seattle Business Magazine 2019 Leaders in Healthcare, Achievement in Medical Technology. Read the full article in the March Issue of Seattle Business Magazine, or here.