Medical, defense fields may join in simulation work

Boosted by an infusion of more than $1 million, the region's defense training industry is launching a "center of excellence" to extend computer-based simulation training into the medical field, industry officials said this week.

The Army Research, Development & Engineering Command's simulation training unit in Orlando plans to establish the medical work by partnering with the University of Central Florida's new medical school and others in Orlando's growing biomedical cluster, agency officials said.

"We expect to leverage the simulation training expertise we have in Orlando and work with the UCF medical school in testing, evaluating and developing advanced training systems in health care," said Beth Pettitt, head of the agency's simulation center.

The initiative, which has been in the works for about a year, will be a joint effort of the local simulation agency and the U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command, based at Fort Detrick, Md., she said. The agencies have collaborated on various projects for much of this decade.

Their latest project -- dubbed the Joint Medical Research & Development Center -- gained traction recently when it landed about $1.2 million in the Pentagon's proposed budget for 2008, according to Pettitt.

The budget was approved by Congress and is awaiting the president's signature.

It was included in this year's funding requests by congressional delegations in Maryland and Florida, including U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo.

Other military agencies, such as the Naval Air Warfare Center's training systems division in Orlando, are planning to join the effort, according to Pettitt.

Industry officials said the military agencies' initiative could play a key role in an important new direction for Central Florida's simulation training industry, which is regarded as the nation's largest cluster of training technology operations.

Simulation training science needs to be prominent in the mix as Central Florida's biomedical community takes shape, officials said. The region's "Medical City" at Lake Nona will include the UCF med school and, the Burnham Institute of Medical Research and Nemours new children's hospital.

There will be critical synergy with those institutions for the simulation industry, said Russ Hauck, executive director of the National Center for Simulation, an industry trade group located at Central Florida Research Park.

"We believe the future is very bright for Central Florida in medical simulation," he said.

The Army's local simulation research unit has more than a decade of experience working with medical simulation. Pettitt herself spearheaded a project in the 1990s to develop the nation's first Combat Trauma Patient Simulator. Army trainers worldwide have used the systems to teach combat medics. The computerized mannequins simulate injury or illness using sensors and microchips.

Newer versions of the system use wireless connections and have more sophisticated electronics, which provide greater realism in training, Pettitt said.

"The original systems did a great job of teaching combat triage and making life and death decisions," she said. "But we've learned a lot now about creating realistic virtual injuries and wounds. Now the next step is simulation that will teach surgical repair. That's where we think the work with UCF med students will play a key role."

Industry experts said the defense simulation industry would be smart to expand its reach outside of military training. Although Pentagon funding for simulation has remained steady in recent years, that may level off considerably in the coming years as the war effort draws down, they said.

"It is a good move to diversify," said Garrick Ngai, a defense analyst for the Frost & Sullivan consulting firm. "Whatever new applications they can come up with in the medical field, the industry will benefit from going in that direction."

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