Simulation Resources
Websites listed on this page are selected by me, Barry Robinson, as being content rich and useful to simulators.This does not imply that I endorse or recommend any products on those websites unless otherwise stated. Where applicable, I've written a short introduction describing the site. Please note that I do not "trade" links or allow any advertising on my website. Links may be added or deleted at any time on my whim.
- Simulation in Healthcare
- Healthcare Simulation Manufacturers
- Audio Visual Solutions for Healthcare Simulation
- Education
- Emergency Medicine and Trauma
- Disaster and Emergency Response
- Special Makeup Effects and Prosthetics
- Computing in Healthcare Simulation
- Miscellaneous
Simulation in Healthcare
Websites listed under this heading are primarily institutional simulation programs and associations of simulators.
- Simulation Canada (formerly SIM-one and the Canadian Network for Simulation in Healthcare) A resource for medical simulation centres in Canada. NEW! SIM Scenario Exchange™, a free resource for exchanging simulation scenarios and more. The website also has a directory of Canadian simulation centres as well as a listing of individuals involved in simulation. In addition, there are grants available for simulation-based research and courses available for professionals involved in simulation.
- Standardized Patient Program, University of Toronto. Provides standardized patients, people trained to act like actual patients, for a variety of teaching and assessment tasks. The website has an extensive list of resources including a case writing guide for standardized patients.
- Healthcare Human Factors The human factors team at the University Health Network (UHN) runs a 60002 sq.ft. simulation and testing facility in Toronto.
- The Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) This organization does certification of individuals involved in simulation and accreditation of simulation centers. They also publish the "Simulation in Healthcare" journal which is indexed in PubMed.
- Association of SP Educators Standardized patients (or simulated patient or simulated participant) are people from a wide variety of backgrounds that are trained to act as a patient. This website provides professional development and resources for recruiting and training SPs.
- The Israel Center for Medical Simulation (MSR) in Israel at the Sheba Medical Center. I had the pleasure to attend two lectures by Prof. Amitai Ziv, the director of simulation center. He gave the lectures at he Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in September 2013 during Simulation Week at camh. See also Azrieli Foundation
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev SimReC - The Research Center for Simulation in Healthcare in Israel.
- SESAM the Society in Europe for Simulation Applied to Medicine.
- The Center for Medical Simulation (CMS) at Harvard. Offers courses in simulation. Some excellent resources are available, see Debriefing Assessment for Simulation in Healthcare (DASH).
- VA Simulation Center at Stanford. The sim center at Stanford has been around for nearly 20 years and was founded by Dr. David Gaba.
- Michael S. Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education at the University of Miami. The Harvey®, The Cardiopulmonary Patient Simulator was developed here at the University of Miami in 1968. The most recent version of Harvey is available from Laerdal.
- Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center at Duke University.
Healthcare Simulation Manufacturers
These are manufacturers of simulation equipment including mannequins and partial task trainers. Each manufacturer has carved out their own niche in this fast growing field.
- CAE Healthcare CAE has one of the most complete lines of high-fidelity patient simulators for training physicians, nurses and prehospital teams. They also have ultrasound phantoms and laparoscopic trainers.
- Gaumard Known for their line of high fidelity birthing simulators, Gaumard also has partial task trainers, ALS and BLS trainers.
- Laerdal Laerdal developed one of the first resuscitation manikins, Rescue Anne. Their current product line includes high fidelity wireless manikins as well as partial task trainers.
- TOMManikin at North American Rescue Simulation. A really rugged mannequin with a steel skeleton and silicone exterior. One version of the TOMManikin can be used in water.
- Mentice AB This firm, headquartered in Sweden, specializes in medical vascular simulation.
- Adam,Rouilly Makers of the Bedford Nurse Training Dolls which were first available in 1931 along with partial task trainers and anatomical models.
- LifeLike BioTissue Inc. A Canadian company, based in London, Ontario. They make products for sugical training which have the same mechanical properties as human tissue.
- True Phantom Solutions A Canadian company based in Windsor, Ontario. They specialize in materials which replicate physical and mechanical properties of human tissue.
- Synaptive Medical This Toronto-based company, specializing in neurosurgical technologies, makes a brain simulator.
- Rescue Training Manikins from Ruth Lee Ltd. Manikins for training fire fighters, police, first responders and others. These low-fidelity manikins are used in rescue scenarios and are often the same weight as a human.
- Surgical Theater The Surgery Rehearsal Platform (SRP) uses medical imaging from patients to rehearse neurosurgical procedures for specific patients in a virtual environment. See "Surgical Rehearsal Platform: Potential Uses in Microsurgery" in Neurosurgery: October 2013 - Volume 73 - Issue - p S122-S126
- The Chamberlain Group Makers of surgical trainers including a beating heart trainer.
- Schallware makes the Schallware Ultrasound Simulator.
- Anesoft Software simulation for anesthesia, critical care, ACLS and more. Some simulators are web-based.
- ARA: Health Solutions Virtual medical simulation on a variety of platforms.
- 3D Systems (formerly Simbionix) Surgical simulators.
- Pocket Nurse A wide variety of simulation items including suture pads, demo dose drugs for educational and demonstration use. They also have SimEMR simulated electronic medical records.
- Columbia Dentoform suppliers of dental simulation products.
- Mimic Robotic simulators.
- SimSurgery AS Surgical simulation products using a virtual reality platform.
- Simulab Surgical simulators, central line trainers and diagnostic ultrasound trainers.
- Simulaids A wide range of products from partial task trainers and anatomical models to full-size nursing manikins. Products for EMS and rescue services training.
- Intuitive Surgical The da Vinci Skills Simulator.
- Immersion - Medical Simulation Suppliers of haptic technology to manufacturers of medical simulation equipment.
- Vata Inc. A range of trainers including injection simulators, ultrasound phantoms and ostomy models.
- Sakamoto Model Corporation A wide range of products from task trainers to full-size nursing manikins. Simulation suits are available which give the user the feel of dealing with hemiplegia or aging. There are also acupuncture simulation models available.
- Prestan Products Makers of CPR and AED manikins.
- OtoSim™ an otoscopy training and simulation system developed by Dr. Vito Forte and Dr. Paolo Campisi at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Read about the development of the OtoSim™ company at MaRS Innovation.
- Pharmabotics Ltd. Suppliers of tactile training aids for medical simulation. Product line includes suture practice pads, IV trainer arms and more.
- Kyoto Kagaku Co. Ltd. Task trainers, radiology and ultrasound imaging phantoms
- GERontologic Test suit GERT An age simulation suit that simulates impairments of older people.
- Cardionics Auscultation trainers.
- Blaufuss Medical Multimedia Laboratories Heart sounds software and hardware.
- SynDaver™ Labs Synthetic human tissues and body parts.
- Limbs & Things Task trainers (IV arms) and ultrasonic examination training models.
- eoSurgical low cost surgical simulation products
- Rescue Critters Animal training mannikins. This company has developed animal training mannikins for veterinary training. They have the Mimolette Lab Rat, Critical Care Jerry (dog), Critical Care Fluffy (cat), partial task trainers and other specialized mannikins.
- Veterinary Simulator Industries A Canadian company specializing in farm animal simulators for veterinary professionals. Take a look at their blog to see some really nice work.
Audio Visual and management Solutions for Healthcare Simulation
Companies listed here provide audio visual and/or management software for simulation centres.
- KbPort Simplicity Medical Simulation Recording, Assessment and Affordable Simulation Lab Solutions.
- Extron Electronics Audio visual streaming, control systems and digital video for business and institutional use.
- Crestron Control and Automation Systems Audio visual distribution systems, camera control, lighting control and more for business and institutional use.
- Axis Communications network video products including a wide range of network cameras and video management software.
Education
Various websites devoted to medical and emergency training in various modalities.
- Moodle - Open source Course Management System Moodle can be used to create online virtual learning environments. The program is open source so it is free to use. Moodle uses the popular GIFT format for scripting quizes.
- OpenLabyrinth An open source simulation platform used to develop virtual patient cases. To learn more about OpenLabyrinth see the FAQ
- Advanced Distributed Learning a U.S. government funded initiative to research and develop learning technologies.
- NTL (National Training Laboratories) Institute for Applied Behavioral Science is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1947. The purpose of the NTL is to advance Applied Behavior Science. The Institute offers a wide range of programs including webinars and certificate programs.
- Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) A consortium of the University of Toronto and its affiliated teaching hospitals. The website has a few training modules of interest to heathcare workers.
- Practical Clinical Skills Learn how to take blood pressure, listen to heart,lung and abdominal sounds, practice taking an EKG. Free, online training.
- The Auscultation Assistant Listen to a variety of heart sounds, heart murmurs and breath sounds. Excellent tool for learning to identify heart and breath sounds.
- Easy Auscultation free auscultation training and reference website
- University of Michigan Heart Sound and Murmur Library. You can download a zipped file of all of these heart sounds in mp3 format from this website.
- High-Resolution Human Models: Virtual Population free to use for non-commercial use
- CVSim: A Cardiovascular Simulator used for teaching at both MIT and Harvard Medical School. See CVSim: An Open-Source Cardiovascular Simulator for Teaching and Research by Thomas Heldt, Ramakrishna Mukkamala, George B. Moody and Roger G. Mark, The Open Pacing, Electrophysiology & Therapy Journal, 2010, 3, 45-54
- ECGSYN: A realistic ECG waveform generator You can try the Java applet waveform generator in your web browser. Source code is available in both C and Java. There is a link to the original journal article published in the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering for those interested in the details of the generator.
Emergency Medicine and Trauma
- Blast Injuries Journal article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005 on the etiology and treatment of blast injuries. Excellent introduction to the subject.
- War Surgery: Volume 1 Prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross. An excellent resource for casualty simulators, especially Chapter 4 on the Red Cross Wound Score and Classification System. Covers topics such as the mechanism of injury in armed conflict and general principles of war surgery. War Surgery: Volume 2 covers specific topics in war surgery. Available in PDF and print format.
Disaster and Emergency Response
An emergency is a situation which poses an immediate threat to health, life, property or the environment. A disaster is an event which overwhelms available local or regional resources. War, civil unrest, terrorist acts, natural disasters, infastructure failures and industrial accidents can be the cause of an emergency or disaster. Disaster and emergency management is the disipline of dealing with emergencies and disasters. It consists of four phases: prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response.
- Emergency Preparedness and Response at the CDC. In depth information concerning natural disasters, bioterrorism, chemical emergencies, radiation emergencies, mass casualties and much more from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Bioterrorism Preparedness Training and Assessment Exercises for Local Public Health Agencies by the RAND Corporation. PDF format, 0.4MB Table top exercises for local public health agencies to help deal with the threat of bioterrorism. Sample exercises of the most likely threats.
- Health Library for Disasters (HeLiD) is available in English, French and Spanish. The library is a joint effort of more than 20 agencies which have contributed to the library since 1998.
- Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) Based at the University of Greenwich, this group has developed fire and evacuation simulations.
- Emergency Management - Public Safety Canada Disaster and emergency management information for Canadians from the Federal government.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) The U.S. Government agency responsible for disaster and emergency preparedness. Resources for both citizens and professionals.
Special Makeup Effects and Prosthetics
Primarily about makeup and prosthetics of interest to those involved in medical simulation and casualty simulation.
- The Effects Lab One of the best places on the World Wide Web to learn about special makeup effects. See "The Study" for demonstrations of standard techniques in special effects makeup. There is a tutorials section in the forums which contains excellent tutorials on common procedures.
- Silicone Discovery Center Information about silicone rubbers including the chemistry. Silicone is used in casualty simulation to build realistic wounds and to create molds.
- Smooth-On Silicone Manufacturers of silicone and other materials used in special effects, mold making, casting, and sculpting. Many videos and tutorials on working with Smooth-On products. One video which will be of interest to medical simulators is Medical Simulation: Creating Your Own Silicone Suture Training Pad
- Arrowhead Forensics Two products which may interest the medical simulation community are synthetic blood (reacts to some chemical tests for human blood) and splatter blood (same viscosity and surface tension as human blood).
- Ben Nye Makeup Professional grade makeup for special effects. Ben Nye products are excellent value and very high quality. Most theater supply stores and professional makeup suppliers carry this line.
- Premiere Products - Specialty Cosmetics and Adhesives Speciality makeup products which include skin-safe silicone adhesives (Telesis), alcohol-activated paints (Skin Illustrator), theatrical blood (Fleet Street Blood Works) and more.
- Pros-Aide Medical Grade Prosthetic Adhesive Pros-Aide is the choice of makeup professionals for an adhesive. To use Pros-Aide, apply, allow to dry until tacky then stick to clean skin. Pros-Aide can be thickened with Cab-O-Sil and used to make self-sticking prosthetic appliances
- Kryolan Professional Makeup Wide range of product not found elsewhere. Kryolan has many more products than are listed on their website.
- Make your own sculpting tools ebook Free ebook on making your own sculpting tools. Very detailed and very useful when you are sculpting prosthetics for casualty simulation. Highly recommended.
- FDA Cosmetics page Find out what ingredients are permitted in cosmetics, product safety. If you have any doubts about makeup products you are using, consult this page.
- Health Canada Cosmetics Page The safety, labeling and regulation of cosmetics in Canada.
Computing in Healthcare Simulation
Computing, in terms of creating the software, is becoming a larger part of healthcare simulation outside of established companies.
- CVSim: A Cardiovascular Simulator used for teaching at both MIT and Harvard Medical School. See CVSim: An Open-Source Cardiovascular Simulator for Teaching and Research by Thomas Heldt, Ramakrishna Mukkamala, George B. Moody and Roger G. Mark, The Open Pacing, Electrophysiology & Therapy Journal, 2010, 3, 45-54
- ECGSYN: A realistic ECG waveform generator You can try the Java applet waveform generator in your web browser. Source code is available in both C and Java. There is a link to the original journal article published in the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering for those interested in the details of the generator.
- The Algorithmic Justice League The AJL is an organization that seeks to make algorithms more socially responsible.
Miscellaneous
Things which didn't seem to fit in elsewhere but may be of interest to medical simulators, casualty simulators or medical professionals.
- Casualties Union Founded in 1942 during the Second World War. Provided casualty simulation services to train civil defense workers.
- OpenMaterials.org OpenMaterials.org is a website which serves as a repository for new and interesting materials, processes and tools.
- Prakash Lab Prakash Lab, located at Stanford University. bills itself as "curiosity-driven science".
- iMedicalApps Reviews of the latest heathcare and medical apps.
- MedWrench The Medical Product Support Network. If you repair or maintain medical products such as IV pumps this website is an excellent resource. Repair manuals are archived here and there is an active member forum.
- OpenMRS An open source electronic medical records system (MRS). The software runs on a variety of platforms including Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It is written in Java and uses MySQL as a backend database. You can customize the system without changing the source code.
- Trengove Studios Realistic fake food and other items. Useful in recreating a simulated home environment for training personal support workers (PSW) and others.
- d.school: The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. Founded by David Kelley an engineer and designer, famous for his work with Apple. You can see a wonderful documentary about the school and their design process Extreme by Design. This movie originally aired on PBS and is now available via iTunes.
- Arduino An open source prototyping platform based on a popular microcontroller. The Arduino has both digital and analog inputs, a USB connection and much more. Several different models are available at a low price. Functionality can be added to the basic board with Arduino shields for displays, communications, motor controls and sensors. An interesting article "Rhythm of Life Aid (ROLA): An Integrated Sensor System for Supporting Medical Staff During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) of Newborn Infants" published in the IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine in 2011.
- Raspberry Pi Tiny computers just slightly larger than a credit card, selling for as low as $5. The Raspberry Pi is an open source hardware design running Linux operating system. This computer was designed for experimentation and prototyping, to encourage innovation.
- Adafruit Industries Creators and manufacturers of open source electronics which work with the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino boards. Low prices, a wide variety of products and a really helpful website. If you are developing custom hardware for simulations or you want to modify existing hardware, take a look at Adafruit.
- Element 14 An online community specifically for engineers. Discussions about the Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards, sensors, programming, robotics and much more.
- Phidgets Low cost sensors and controllers that attach to your computer via a USB with drivers that can be controlled by programs written in a variety of languages. Makes development and prototyping much easier. For those in the medical simulation community, there are many sensors of interest including RFID, pressure sensors, proximity sensors and much more.
- ALICE A.I. Foundation An open source chatbot which is (fairly) easy to program using the AIML language. A chatbot like this can be used in medical simualtion to deliver a patient history in desktop or online simulations.
- Shocknife This is a training aid used by the police and military to realistically simulate a knife. The Shocknife delivers a harmless high voltage shock to the skin which feels like being cut.
- Indy Mogul A series of videos on YouTube for the low-budget filmmaker. Many of the special effects techniques featured may be adapted for medical simulation.
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