Florida Anesthesia Computer and Engineering Team
©
University of Florida, 1996
In the group a number of training devices have been developed. A number of them are available in our Department's resident's library for review.
TEECHER® is an interactive training device designed to help clinicians
learn the technical fundamentals and basic applications of Transesophageal
Echocardiography (TEE) regardless of their experience with computers. TEECHER®
consists of five parts:
1) Introduction,
2) Pertinent Anatomy,
3)
Basics of Ultrasound,
4) Pathophysiology,
5) Instrument Operation, and
6) Patient Management Exercises.
TEECHER® has been completed and exhibited in many conferences. It is a routine component of the resident elective rotation in intraoperative TEE in our department. The project won the best scientific exhibit prize at the 1992 meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
Mapleson breathing systems are often used in pediatric patients, during intra-hospital patient transport, or for emergency patients. Many health care providers who use these systems do not understand their characteristics, particularly the circumstances that predispose to carbon dioxide rebreathing during mechanical, assisted, and spontaneous breathing. Based on a set of already established mathematical models, the movement and mixing of the gases in the patient's lungs and the breathing circuit are calculated. The results of these computations are displayed in real-time graphs using animation. The trainee is prompted to select and adjust ventilation parameters and observe the consequences on the carbon dioxide distribution.
Health care providers in the operating room and intensive care environment were found to be severely deficient in their knowledge of neuromuscular blocking agents. Combining programming and computer modeling, a software program was developed that uses video, animation, and sophisticated graphics to teach:
* Anatomy and physiology of the neuromuscular junction.
* Pharmacology: pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacogenetics.
* Monitoring
of neuromuscular blockade.
* Patient management exercises.
| Contents | Prev. Page | Next Page |