Project Summary (revised/planning)

Medical errors constitute the fifth leading cause of death, being more common than victims of breast cancer, AIDS and road accidents. The new "high tech" environment of health care necessitates more frequent man-machine interaction and sets new demands on prevention of human error to ensure patient safety. Advocates of advanced medical simulation claim that simulators should be introduced as a routine part of medical training. However, the introduction of simulators for training in health care is in its infancy. Educational studies must be done to validate these new training technologies to ensure the training with simulators is as effective, if not more so, than traditional methods.

We therefore propose to develop a 3D World (VR) simulation exercise for team learning in critical care management and to subsequently (beyond our planning grant), compare it's usefulness with a well-established simulation technology for critical care management-the METI human patient simulator (HPS) system.

The 3D Worlds (VR ) simulation software can be used to create a simulated critical care scenario with is enacted by virtual characters called robots in the computer who interact with others programmed to function in a virtual operating room. The successful completion of the simulation exercise requires coordinated efforts (clear responsibilities, roles, and good communication) by members of the health care team, including theteam leader, a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, a scrub nurse, an orthopedist, etc. Five or more persons at geographically diverse sites need to be supported in this very dynamic world simultaneously.

The METI system being modeled in our robot, includes a human size mannequin, connected to a computer, real OR monitors, and an anaesthesia machine. Cardiac function, breath sounds, oxygen saturation, pupil size and more physiological functions are registered. The above team manage a scenario, and performance is constantly videotaped for a subsequent debriefing.

This planning project aims to develop a 3D world that can later be used in comparing these two very different simulation technologies to better understand the strengths and limitations of each system for learning team roles and responsibilities in critical care management. We propose to later develop and implement the same scenario with the METI system that we have created with the 3D World, (multi/poly trauma), looking for the advantages of each system-what each does best.

The collaboration between the Karolinska Institute and Stanford University groups will include joint scenario design for the 3D Worlds Simulation, joint participation in the formative evaluation and subsequent revision of the 3D Worlds simulation, joint participation in the pilot study of global learning with the final version of the 3D World simulation, and full participation at both sites in a comparative study of the two simulation technologies.
We anticipate that in addition to learning one's own role and responsibilities in a medical emergency, this learning experience will give postgraduate trainees in anesthesiology, surgery, and nursing an opportunity to better understand the needs of all members of the surgical team under especially challenging circumstances.

Last Updated Friday, April 2, 2004 7:19 PM

© 2003 Stanford University Medical Media and Information Technologies
{design by Kingsley Willis}