SIMETRI, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: A20-065

Description

Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) has a formal, approved Program of Instruction (POI). Government and industry organizations provide training to Combat Medics (68W), Special Forces medics (18D), and infantry soldiers buddy care as stand-alone training, as well as integrated medical training in Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) exercises. Though significant medical simulation technology exists, to date, no formal Program of Record (POR) has combined TCCC, LVC, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), human patient simulators (HPS), and haptic devices into a single approach with a clear path to Synthetic Training Environment (STE) integration. Existing approaches to inserting haptics into AR/VR combat medicine have focused on altering and/or unnecessarily complicating the training use case to allow for the inclusion of haptics such as gloves with vibration or simulated force, which are ill-suited for teaching the fine motor skills necessary to provide most life saving procedures. Utilizing the proposed Multi Modal Medical Training System (M3TS), traditional high-cost systems can be replaced with targeted visuals and haptics to supplement lower cost Human Patient Simulator (HPS) and Part Task Trainer (PTT) systems. During Phase 1, SIMETRI proved the validity of this concept, developing a proof of concept system with a Care Under Fire (CUF) scenario. The resulting system is a truly multi-mode AR system that is capable of providing critical visual and haptic cues overlaid on existing or developed, low cost HPS, PTT systems, or role players, and deployable as a simple augmentation kit and expandable to include additional technology and scenarios. The M3TS has a technology path to take advantage of individual combatant STE capabilities, while augmenting any medical data that is processed/handled in STE and build on that by providing physiology model updates with details of the patient by leveraging existing connectivity developed under the DoD’s ongoing efforts. Phase 2 will focus on further identification and integration of haptics devices in a mixed reality environment for the target goal of conducting medical training. Incorporating additional physical devices through use of actual devices or facsimiles of real devices will be a key development effort for Phase 2. SIMETRI will explore integrating additional physical devices through hybrid techniques. Several key medical procedures and devices associated with CUF, TCCC, and PFC training scenarios will be explored to further the haptics insertion in medical training. Augmentation of the training environment is equally key for the Phase 2 effort as key overlays are required to fill in the gaps of specific procedures, and in some cases devices will be developed to further the capabilities of the M3TS platform. Phase 2 efforts will also continue to mature the STE interfaces as SIMETRI tracks and matches progress of the STE developments that are suitable for integration with the M3TS environment.