The Applebaum Simulation Learning Institute was established in part to afford greater access to new discoveries, technology and treatments.
The Institute allows researchers to test advanced surgical technology and medical devices in a secure, yet realistic environment. It offers physicians an arena to conduct research on medical devices and equipment, and to advance groundbreaking treatment protocols in the operating room.
The Institute is affiliated with the Commercialization Center, which works with medical researchers and industry to develop and test medical devices.
Three publications have already resulted from research done here
- Colucci, S.; Craney, T.; Edinger, J.; Miller, J.; Huard, C.; and Mileto, L. (2007) Efficacy of human patient simulator in skills validation for practicing nurse anesthetists. American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Journal, Vol. 75, No. 5, pg. 363, Abstract 11.
- Nagar, S.; Stefaniak, J.; Ivascu, F.; Robbins, J. (2010). Exploring various simulation techniques in applied hemodynamic monitoring. (Simulation in Healthcare 2010 abstract presentation).
- Patel, NV., Robbins, JM., & Shanley, CJ. (2009) Low-fidelity exercises for basic surgical skills training and assessment. The American Journal of Surgery, Vol. 197, 119-125.
Other current research includes
- Surgeon Training and Assessment Grant - awarded in collaboration with the Wayne State University Engineering Department from the U.S. Department of Defense to evaluate surgeons being deployed to military theater hospitals and assess surgeons returning after deployments to determine if they need retraining on skills used in stateside medical practice.
- U.S. Department of Defense funding for brain injury research - to evaluate the long-term effect of traumatic brain injury due to blast explosions in wartime and in the use of smart sensor technology to assess and triage mild traumatic brain injury.
- The Surgical Learning Center is partnering with APTIMA on a Phase 1 SBIR grant with the US Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technologies Research Center (TATRC) to develop a computer-based surgical training program that will assess learners on higher-order skills such as communication, situational awareness and decision-making while providing built-in expert feedback.