He can blink, consume oxygen, produce tears and exhale carbon-dioxide and by the end of this month he will become the medical fraternity’s most talked about “patient”.
The latest version of Standard Man, or Stan as he is commonly known, is set to become the “star” of a trail-blazing R4.5 million anaesthesiology training facility in KZN, the first of its kind in Africa, where health care professionals can perform sophisticated training procedures in a near-reality situation.
Dr Dean Gopalan, head of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of Anaesthesiology & Critical Care at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban said that Stan, who is permanently connected to a standard operating theatre monitor, was one of the most technologically advanced “human” models available today.
“He enables us to create critical near-death scenarios, where normally there is no margin for error, almost like an emergency flight simulator for pilots” he said. Gopalan said there were a number of “compelling” reasons why this type of technology was becoming a critical training component. “In the past the clinical training of nurses and doctors was often done on volunteer patients. But today most patients are unwilling to allow trainees to work, or practice procedures on them. Simulation is the best alternative.” He said that certain rare but dangerous complications, like malignant hyperthermia, could occur during an anaesthetic. “Most anaesthetists will probably never see a case during their career, but if they do, they would have to know immediately what to do, otherwise the patient could die. With models like Stan we can reproduce this complication a hundred times over.” Gopalan believes that funding for this type of technology will be critical in the years to come and that South Africa could become a world leader in these training disciplines. “But we need to make bold steps, investing in the equipment, resources and technology that will put us at the forefront of medical innovation and training,” he said.
This week the Sunday Tribune was given a sneak preview of the SMART Centre (Simulated Modules in Anaesthesia and Resuscitation Training).
The Centre’s manager & chief technologist, Naren Bhimsan, explains some of the finer details of the simulation process.
“The computers linked to Stan are programmed with algorithms capable of creating a number of ‘real life’ medical scenarios. For instance if Stan was a man who drank heavily and smoked 60 cigarettes a day, or a policeman with a gunshot wound, we can produce an exact profile to suit that training module. We can also throw in some curve balls, like a heart attack or an allergic reaction to a drug midway during an operation when instant responses are required.”
Bhimsan, who has been instrumental in setting up the centre, which includes video enabled medical devices which can show the internal intubation procedures on a LCD monitor, said that this type of simulated hands-on training was rapidly finding its way into training hospitals around the world. “It is important that we are part of this evolving process,” he said.
Dr Christian Kampik, a consultant in the anaesthetic department who uses Stan for training said that one of the key aims was to show medical students what it is like before it happens. “It’s certainly better to kill a dummy than a patient,” he tells his trainees. Kampik says that Stan’s ability to train medical personnel at all levels in order to reduce mistakes and to find out why errors occur were the dummy’s greatest value.
At the official opening of the SMART centre, guests will be able to view a simulated surgical procedure in a real-life operating theatre setting, complete with surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists. They will be able to see Stan’s anatomical & physiological responses as his chest moves with breathing, his thumb twitches with electrical stimulation and his eyes open and close. They will also learn that Stan, like any live patient, is capable of passing urine and with interchangeable genitalia he can quickly transform to his female counterpart, Stannette.
Developed by METI, a Florida-based US company, Stan is made up of R2.8 million rands worth of plastic, metal wiring and circuit boards and from next month will spend most of his days crashing into all manner of medical trauma, from blocked airways to collapsed lungs, in a non-threatening, no risk environment
