With assistance from InteliSpark, Simulated Inanimate Models, LLC has been awarded a grant from the NSF, for their project, “Integration of Anatomical Hydrogel Phantoms with Augmented Reality and Deep Learning to Enable Automated Independent Surgical Training”. This project will focus on the development of novel technology to more efficiently train surgeons and reduce the risk of patients in the operating room.
Current surgical education can be seen as inadequate, and furthermore, resulting in inexperienced surgeons inevitably end up operating on live patients during their training. Simulated Inanimate Models’ solution is to be performed outside of the operating room and allow them to train in a simulated, educational environment on non-patient specific models. This work seeks to reduce surgical error and increase the health and safety of all patients undergoing surgery. The project will integrate technology with surgical simulation, combining educational hardware/software packages with physical anatomical models to create an immersive, highly effective training experience. Additionally, the project will improve both the well-being of the public as well as the educational and training of the healthcare industry.
Simulated Inanimate Models’ project will develop a prototype hardware and software training system that delivers educational content in real time, guiding a training surgeon through a simulated surgical procedure. The developed prototype will visually recognize state changes and objects in three-dimensional space, using these cues to trigger prompts and deliver instructions, guidance, and medical curricula in a timely manner as the surgeon interacts with a non-patient specific physical models; this product will require the integration of physical models with software and augmented reality technology on a level unparalleled on the market today. This prototype will undergo technical validation and an initial round of educational validation, in preparation for the broader clinical and educational validation planned in Phase 2.