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WORLD'S FIRST INTERACTIVE INFANT SIMULATOR CREATES A RISK-FREE TRAINING TOOL FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS
It cries. It blinks. It wets.
Just like a real baby.
Except it's not.
The newest bundle of joy at University of Iowa Children's Hospital, located at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, is the world's first interactive infant simulator. Called BabySIM(tm), it combines lifelike human physiological characteristics with software models that enable it to independently recognize and respond to medical treatment and drugs.
BabySIM has the unique ability to train health care professionals in the care of seriously ill infants in a risk-free environment.
Located in the UI Department of Anesthesia's patient simulation center, BabySIM is the first training device of its type to be fully installed and functioning in a teaching hospital in the United States. Medical Education Technologies Inc. is delivering BabySIM systems to 17 medical institutions across the United States, Japan, and Europe.
"Providing anesthesia to a sick infant is a challenging task at the best of times," said Suhas Kalghatgi, M.D., director of the patient simulation center. "BabySIM allows us to present these challenging scenarios in a realistic manner to our residents and medical students, outside the operating room. The training can be accomplished without causing potential harm to a patient."
BabySIM can be either a boy or girl who cries and urinates and has lifelike pulses, heart functions, and sounds, with eyes that dilate and blink. Run from a laptop computer, BabySIM accurately and independently recognizes and responds to medical treatment and drugs without manipulation by an instructor once a medical scenario begins.
BabySIM re-creates a host of possible human conditions and emergency medical scenarios.
During emergency exercises, instructors can intervene and "throw a curve ball" to create realistic critical situations that challenge would-be lifesavers. If the student responds correctly, BabySIM survives. Wrong decisions can send the simulated infant into cardiac arrest and possibly jeopardize BabySIM's life.
Patient calls for information/UI Health Access 800-777-8442
Physician calls for consultation and scheduling/UI Consult 800-322-8442
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