|
Home
> News
> Press Releases
Ascension miniBIRD
Tracks Performance in Chest
Trauma Training
Burlington, Vermont USA;
October 31, 2002: The sensor
size and tracking accuracy
provided by Ascension
Technology Corporation’s
miniBIRD™ motion
trackers allow the VIRGIL®
Chest Trauma Training Simulator
System to present
a realistic scenario for teaching
Army medics how to treat collapsed
lungs and blood or air in
the chest cavity.
Developed by The Simulation
Group of the Center for Integration
of Medicine and Innovative
Technology (CIMIT), VIRGIL
trains medic recruits how
to alleviate three conditions:
tension pneumothorax, hemothorax
and hemopneumothorax. Following
a web-based tutorial covering
basic first aid, the three
chest trauma conditions, procedures
and complications, medics
go hands-on with the simulator.
VIRGIL’s mannequin
incorporates realistic skin,
bone and muscle with an accurate
model of the internal organs.
A touch screen computer interface
leads trainees through a self-directed
or instructor-led combat treatment
scenario. Movement and placement
of chest darts and chest tubes
is monitored in real time,
giving immediate feedback
to the trainees and instructors.
According to Steven L. Dawson,
MD, VIRGIL program leader,
the miniBIRDs’ accuracy
was critical to the ability
to measure trainees’
performance. As each tracked
instrument is used, a specially
designed software system follows
the motion of the instrument
relative to the human anatomy
integrated in the learning
system. When the trainee completes
a procedure, the system automatically
plays the path of the chest
dart or chest tube, showing
whether or not the treatment
was successful. To maximize
the simulator’s effectiveness,
the Simulation group wanted
accuracy under 1mm during
the entire course of the treatment.
The miniBIRD’s sensor
size also fulfilled a key
requirement. The 5mm sensor
fit inside the narrow internal
diameter of the specific type
of chest tube the Army uses
to treat its soldiers. Sensors
are also located on the instruments
the simulator uses to prepare
the insertion site and to
treat a tension pneumothorax.
“For both of these applications,
the tracking system had to
be unobtrusive and compact
in order not to interfere
with the realism of the training
scenario. The miniBIRDs fit
the bill on both accounts,”
explains Dawson.
The miniBIRDs track the position
and orientation of instruments
in real time with six degrees
of freedom. They receive no
line-of-sight interference
whether they are used inside
or outside the body. VIRGIL
will soon be moving to Ascension’s
pciBIRD platform whereby the
trackers will be powered by
the host computer through
a standard PCI Bus.
Ascension Technology Corporation,
Burlington, Vermont, develops
motion tracking solutions
for 3D computer graphics applications.
More information about Ascension
trackers is available at www.ascension-tech.com.
For more information about
CIMIT and the VIRGIL Chest
Trauma Training Simulator
System, visit www.cimit.org.
-- end --
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jack Scully (802)
893-6657 or e-mail: jscully@ascension-tech.com
Back to Top
|
