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The Virgil mannequin system works through a PC-based graphical interface that tracks the internal position of chest darts and chest tubes during training exercises. As the medic makes an incision through the patient’s skin and muscle to insert the chest tube, the computer provides detailed force feedback. After medics complete the basic simulation, Virgil gradually progresses to more difficult training scenarios that mirror combat trauma care. One of the system’s main virtues is that it tracks the trainee’s progress and detects repeated patterns of error. The level of precision the designers have achieved is extraordinary: by using three-dimensional anatomical models generated from CT scans of actual human anatomy, CIMIT has been able to develop scientifically accurate, almost lifelike mannequins. The simulated size, location, and density of internal organs are designed such that Virgil will realistically react if the trainee goes astray and nicks an organ or punctures a lung in the intubation process.
Dr. Steve Dawson, the head of CIMIT’s Simulation Group, believes that Virgil’s technology will allow for complete training without having to undergo the risk of operating on a live patient. “The whole reason we’re doing this is to take patients out of the learning curve,” says Dr. Dawson. “When your doctor walks up to treat you,” you want him to be “proficient.” You do not want him to “make big mistakes on you because you’re the first one he’s ever done.”
The CIMIT program was formulated by Dr. Mark Parrish, a former combat surgeon during the Vietnam War, who was inspired by his wartime experience to address the need for a more versatile set of medical simulation technologies for the armed forces. “I found it very frustrating to not be able to make a difference. It helped me focus more on developing treatments and diagnostics than trying to treat one patient at a time,” Parrish says.
Under Dr. Parrish’s direction, universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Rhode Island School of Design have collaborated with hospitals to design and implement the new training program. Parrish has procured an annual budget of $10 million to $15 million for the program, accrued from federal dollars, grants, and donations, in addition to funding from the US Army, which contracts much of CIMIT’s outside work.
Although Virgil is only a prototype for now, CIMIT is engaged in negotiations with private companies to develop, manufacture, and sell the system for a variety of uses. And even though Virgil is not yet widely available, it has already earned positive feedback from users during its test-phase, which include doctors from Lithuania and US Army medical workers from Fort Sam Houston in Texas. In the coming years, other body parts will join Virgil’s torso-shaped simulator to make the first full-body mannequin simulator, built in accordance with the US Army’s specifications. With international politics as uncertain as ever, we can regrettably expect that the market for products like Virgil will only expand.
Kyan Safavi is the Art Director of PH
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