According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 659,000 people in the United States die from heart disease each year, meaning that the ability to diagnose and treat cardiac patients is imperative among medical professionals. Healthcare simulation provides a way for both medical learners and practitioners to acquire cardiac treatment knowledge or build upon their existing knowledge. To help accomplish just that, CAE Healthcare has released an enhanced version of the company’s CathLabVR cardiac training tool, a non-invasive cardiovascular simulator integrated with Microsoft HoloLens 2 to offer unmatched realism when practicing the treatment of cardiac and vascular issues.
This clinical simulation solution presents more than 31,000 unique experiences with varying difficulty levels included for practicing the treatment of coronary blockages and heart attacks. Additionally, the updated percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) module leverages mixed reality for learning coronary angioplasty and stenting techniques.
“We are excited to expand our mixed reality portfolio to provide highly realistic learning experiences to cardiologists,” said Heidi Wood, President of CAE Healthcare. “Mixing high-tech augmented reality with hands-on training tools provides learners with a robust system on the leading edge of healthcare education. This technology, paired with Microsoft HoloLens, provides lifelike immersion and best-in-market realism, so medical students and cardiologists can enhance their manual dexterity and improve their critical thinking skills in a risk-free environment.”
When CAE CathLabVR is used with the Microsoft Hololens, the learner is transported to a realistic catheterization lab, complete with a moving C-arm. The curriculum includes basic to advanced percutaneous interventions and aortic/cardiac valve replacement, with more learning modules on the way. Examples of these learning modules include:
- Basic Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCI)
- Advanced PCI
- Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI)
- Carotid Interventions
- Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM)
Ultimately, the CAE CathLabVR interventional simulator is an ideal healthcare simulation solution, as the tool is portable and modular. This solution was designed to teach learners how to master the use of wires, catheters, balloons, and stents through virtual anatomy. Plus, the system easily breaks down to fit inside the included pelican case for transport to teaching seminars and classrooms.
With experiences that cover fundamental cardiac skills, CathLabVR provides learners with the confidence and competence to diagnose and treat patients in a real catheterization lab. Instructors can also easily design and share customized training curricula to meet the unique learning needs of their programs. As an all-in-one solution, this product comes with everything cardiac learners need to advance their understanding and scope of practice, from learning content to realistic tools. Additional features include:
- Realistic physiological responses and fluoro images
- 3D fluoroscopic view of coronary anatomy
- Dual foot pedals plug to show fluoroscopic and cine view
- Contrast syringe and tubing
Other features of the enhanced CathLabVR cardiac training tool include comprehensive performance reporting, which allows for advanced performance metrics for post-simulation analysis and debriefing. Given the solution’s flexibility, educators can swap out tracking modules with new ones to add new hardware features, saving space and costs.
This simulator is ideal as part of a blended solution that includes courses and hands-on sessions with patients. Additionally, the CathLabVR enhancement is part of an innovation initiative that began in 2020 when CAE became the first healthcare simulation provider to pair Microsoft HoloLens with medical training products, providing educators an integrated augmented-reality solution in both ultrasound and patient simulation.
CAE Healthcare first incorporated augmented reality in 2020, adding Microsoft Hololens capabilities to CAE Ares, CAE Lucina, and CAE Vimedix. Applications are displayed as interactive holograms while users move around and engage with anatomical structures in an instinctual manner.
CAE AresAR offers six of the most frequently encountered patient emergency scenarios: sepsis, ischemic cerebrovascular accident, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, tension pneumothorax, and closed head injury.
CAE LucinaAR prepares teams to safely manage a range of normal and critical delivery scenarios, including normal delivery, shoulder dystocia, breech delivery, instruments anterior and postpartum hemorrhage.
CAE VimedixAR enables immersive training in ultrasound scanning, imaging, and diagnosis to build a deeper understanding of the cut plane in cardiac, lung, abdominal, and OB-GYN procedures.
More About CAE Healthcare
CAE Healthcare offers integrated education and training solutions to healthcare students and clinical professionals across the professional life cycle, allowing them to develop practical experience in simulated environments before treating patients. CAE Healthcare’s full spectrum of simulation solutions includes intervention and imaging simulation, the CAE LearningSpace audiovisual and center management platform, and highly realistic adult, pediatric, and baby patient simulators.
The Sarasota-based company (with CAE Healthcare headquarters in Montreal) also supports medical simulation through regional and international HPSN meetings, sponsoring new simulation-based conferences, online tutorials, mentors, videos, and forums. In addition, CAE Healthcare also has a full range of trauma-based and moulage products to directly support first responder and military para-rescue programs. Today, hospitals, medical schools, nursing schools, defense forces, and societies in more than 90 countries use CAE Healthcare training solutions to make healthcare safer.
