Charles River Analytics, a developer of intelligent system solutions, announces its latest contract in medical support and training. Tourniquet Master Training, or TMT, aims to aid warfighters treating injuries on the battlefield. It was awarded by the US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity and is managed by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) Medical Simulation & Training Technologies team.
Advances in battlefield medical treatments have progressed significantly in recent years. Quick and proper use of tourniquets has saved many lives. Unfortunately, some injuries cannot be treated by traditional tourniquets or gauzes, such as those in the abdomen or pelvic areas. New types of tourniquets have been developed to treat these types of injuries, however, systems have not been developed to train responders on how to apply them. Charles River Analytics is designing and demonstrating TMT to teach, assess, and provide refresher training on this new tourniquet technology, specifically the Combat Ready Clamp™ (CRoC), and the Abdominal Aortic Tourniquet™ (AAT) as seen on the figure to the right (image courtesy of Compression Works).
“TMT allows trainees to work with new tourniquet technology in a scenario-based training system, which is key since these injuries are not very common so there are fewer opportunities to practice treating them,” explained Dr. Peter Weyhrauch, Principal Scientist at Charles River. “TMT includes a manikin equipped with sensors and linked to a virtual mentor that helps guide trainees on using the new technology, provides feedback, and later refreshes those skills.”
TMT is one of Charles River’s efforts in medical support and training; other efforts are:
Laparoscopic Surgery Training System — methodologies for refreshing skills and training skills to be durable are being developed and applied to aid military surgeons deploying and returning from deployment. Surgeons efficiently refresh their laparoscopic surgery (LS) skills through training systems and courses that improve effectiveness and retention.
Pictorial Representations of Medical Procedures to Train for Effective Recall —improves the retention of battlefield first-aid skills by presenting critical first-aid skills through simple, intuitive symbols.
Helping Amputees through Virtual Environments—helps Veterans recovering from traumatic amputation through a 3D virtual multiplayer environment that enhances the peer support system.
This material is based upon work supported by the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command under Contract No. W81XWH-13-C-0021. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
