Army taps Charles River Analytics to develop medical sim system

Charles River Analytics won a $1.5 million U.S. Army contract to develop a medical simulation and tutorial platform to improve its medical training and patient care.

Charles River is partnering with Professor Frank Ritter and Dr. Chris Garrison of Pennsylvania State University (PSU) to build a Virtual Intelligent Tutor for the Andragogy of Military Medicine Integrated Skills (VITAMMINS).

VITAMMINS is an adaptive tutor for the military medical domain that aims to improve the quality and efficiency of medical skill training and sustainment, and reduce the costs and time necessary for training. The technology behind VITAMMINS can classify an individual’s skill and adapts training content to meet his or her learning needs. It will build on intelligent tutoring systems, simulation-based training systems and skill modeling methods.

“Military medical care providers are under constant strain to learn new medical devices, procedures, and skills to ensure the best possible patient care,” said Dr. James Niehaus, Senior Scientist at Charles River. “Adaptive training systems that tailor themselves to individual provider needs can reduce training time while maximizing learning. We’re developing a system to address key questions in building the next generation of training for military medicine.”