Shaun B. Jones

Virtual environments for medical training and education

There are a number of modalities for implementing Virtual Environments (VE) for medical training and simulation. Integrating them for a seamless transition from one to another presents the next challenge. The three applications of (1) individual anatomic education and training, (2) medical crisis planning and training, and (3) medical virtual prototyping have been integrated into a single program approach by the military for battlefield trauma care. With this model as a template, the power of VE for the many different aspects of medical education can be explored and exploited.

PREPARING SURGEONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY:Implications of Advanced Technologies

An entire spectrum of advanced technologies and concepts has been presented, from the new clinical applications to highly speculative possibilities. Not all of these technologies will survive the long process to clinical usefulness, but those that do may revolutionize surgery. With such change comes the ethical and moral responsibility to consider them not only in the light of improvement of patient care but also in their impact on society as a whole. If the remarkable rate of change of the past 2 decades continues, it is impossible to conceive of the role of future surgeons. Thus, to be prepared, surgeons must have an open mind, a willingness to consider and evaluate new directions, and the honesty and courage to change when a new approach is proven to be of value. A prepared mind is an open mind.

LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY: Transition to the Future

The twenty-first century will usher in a fundamentally new approach to the practice of medicine. It will be based heavily on information technologies, broadly defined as the devices that acquire information; those that process, transmit, and distribute information; and those that use information to provide therapy. Although conventional surgery will continue to have a presence, there will be radically different surgical approaches and technologies that may become the predominant form of surgery. The medical record may become a three-dimensional visual representation of the individual patient (like the Visible Human Project), which can be the vehicle that integrates the entire spectrum of health care. Examples of the technologies and infrastructures that support this new approach to medicine are discussed and illustrated, with emphasis on how technologies improve individual patient care.

An integrated medical virtual reality program. The military application

There are basically three types of environments needed for battlefield medicine training: (1) a small task-oriented environment-for individual task training such as maintenance or surgical simulation; (2) a large space environment, usually with a terrain or architectural format for mission rehearsal or disaster training; and (3) a virtual prototyping environment for designing new and advanced technology for instruments, equipment, and even operating rooms. This arbitrary division provides specific types of virtual environments to be designed as stand-alone training simulators, or integrated into a larger training system. The military has been using various task-specific educational media as education and training devices for individual soldiers for decades. Within the context of training a medic or physician for a specific task, virtual environments can be utilized for simulation of combat first-aid and of surgical procedures to correct battlefield injuries. Today, this training is performed upon goats and includes performance of tracheostomy, chest tube insertion, subclavian vein cannulation, as well as inflicting a gunshot wound to the thigh to practice debridement and hemostasis.

Department of Defense needs for medical equipment

Smart materials and structures are unknown to the medical community; therefore the opportunity exists to apply these new technologies to health care. A background of the emerging emphasis on advanced medical technologies and the information environment in which these technologies are based will provide a perspective that will enable designers of smart structures to envision new applications for products. A broad overview of the changes and new requirements for advanced medical technologies is presented, and a scenario-based illustration of the modern medical battlefield will provide insight for the application of smart structures to health care.