This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project extends the development and enhances the flexibility of a screen-based, medical physiology, computer simulation design that engages students in an active learning process. Reduced availability of live animal laboratory instruction and the rapid expansion of web-based distance learning physiology instruction have created a demand for engaging, scientifically-accurate medical physiology simulations. In Phase I, a screen-based computer simulation prototype of a commercially-available mechanical ventilator used to teach ventilation mechanics will be developed. The Phase I simulation will be an extension of a previously developed prototype that has shown promise as an educational intervention for replacing animal-intensive teaching laboratories. The Phase I experiment will compare immediate and long-term learning outcomes among students exposed to traditional digitally-captured lecture with those of students that have hands-on access to the simulation. A randomized, crossover experiment will be conducted in a college of veterinary medicine to assess immediate and long-term learning. It is anticipated that access to the simulation will result in improved learning outcomes compared with traditional lecture. The Phase II effort will extend the accessibility and marketability of the concept by developing browser-based variants and validating that enhanced learning outcomes occur among diverse topics and student populations.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project, if successful, will be to develop, produce, and market flexible, engaging, and scientifically-accurate simulations. These novel simulations are designed to help students in the health sciences learn and retain difficult medical physiology concepts. Currently available human medical physiology simulations are costly and labor intensive to operate. For economic and technical reasons, they do not reach the majority of students who need to learn basic or advanced physiological concepts. Command Applied Technology's screen and browser-based simulations are less expensive, more flexible and present the student with a dynamic and engaging interface that links a physiologic principle to a patient that has a condition to be treated and will be marketable as windows and web active learning applications. Markets for this technology will range from medical physiology courses in colleges and universities, continuing education and distance learning programs for health science professionals, advanced CPR and automated external defibrillator training courses, and in respiratory therapy and EMT/Paramedic programs. The expected positive Phase I outcome will generate scientifically-valid, publishable, learning outcome data for this technology and will position Command Applied Technology, Inc. to be on a trajectory to market the simulation technology as windows or as web-based active learning supplements.
If your child was being treated for breathing difficulties and required mechanical ventilation, a trained Respiratory Care professional would be involved in their care. Yet the recent economic downturn and general health care budget crunch are creating significant challenges for Respiratory Care teaching programs. These programs are charged with preparing graduates to utilize complex and ever-changing ventilator technology to save the lives of patients having breathing difficulties. Unfortunately, many programs are unable to afford a sophisticated simulation laboratory and often are unable to provide their students with experience in ventilator-patient interactions. With the support of the NSF SBIR program, Command Applied Technology, Inc. has developed a realistic and engaging computer simulation of a patient-ventilator interaction that is available in an affordable, portable, learn anywhere format; the Virtual Ventilator ICU©. Created by a team of Respiratory Therapists, Anesthesiologists, and experts in Medical Simulation training, Virtual Ventilator ICU provides the student with a simulation of a modern mechanical ventilator, a patient having a clinical condition to be treated, and the interaction of the two in real time. The instructional value of the Virtual Ventilator ICU was evaluated in a controlled experiment where health care students demonstrated at least a 13% improvement in clinical skills when they interacted with this technology. Students in training, as well as practicing clinicians returning for professional continuing education can use this flexible educational tool to investigate patient physiology, plan treatment options, and hone management skills for patients requiring life-saving respiratory care. Future versions of the simulation will be accessible online to health care students in North America as well as around the world using a web browser. In addition to mechanical ventilators, the simulation technology that powers Virtual Ventilator ICU can emulate a variety of medical devices such as vital signs monitors, radiology and ultrasound equipment and automated external defibrillators as well as the clinical patients treated and monitored by these devices. Increased simulation access permits students to train on these devices in an on demand basis providing health care students with more practice time. Better trained professionals are the key to reducing medical errors and omissions and nothing replaces the hands-on training that simulation provides. If your child was the patient, you would demand the most skilled professional attending. With instructional help from the Virtual Ventilator ICU, Respiratory Care training programs will produce highly skilled and better prepared Respiratory Therapists improving the quality of patient health care and saving lives.
