Simulation-Based Wound Closure Training System

描述（由申请人提供）：我们的快速通道SBIR第二阶段的修订包括增加一个新的具体目标，该目标解决了在提交和随后批准本提案后出现的重要技术考虑因素。这一目标涉及到我们在SBIR第一阶段开发的多核并行计算代码的适应，也可以在图形处理器单元（GPU）上运行，这些GPU现在适用于各种通用的科学/工程计算。GPU的使用有可能降低硬件成本，最大限度地提高仿真的真实性，加速市场引入，并扩大产品的潜在市场。这项工作需要SimQuest专门为该项目增加一名计算物理软件工程师，并资助一名研究生将这些新技术应用于开放式手术模拟器产品。 新的具体目标将使（1）完成对我们现有计算代码的初步评估，并对其进行重新架构，以利用基于GPU的计算的特定优势，（2）开发新代码以在GPU上工作，（3）评估和改进该实现以最大限度地提高效益，以及（4）将该代码与模拟器集成。 增加这一特定目标将使SimQuest能够探索一种新的方法来满足我们的产品需求，该方法有可能通过降低成本入门价格来扩大其市场采用，并通过扩大模拟能力来加速其引入外科培训。 公共卫生相关性：这一提议的努力将产生的伤口闭合培训模拟器将满足美国医疗保健工作者的许多群体的培训需求，从外科住院医生到护士，从紧急医疗技术人员到军医。它将提供一种有效的手段，在不同的地点广泛提供一致的最佳实践教学。其结果将是一个更好的训练有素的医疗保健工作人员，将提供更有效的照顾公众。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This revision of Phase II of our Fast Track SBIR consists of the addition of a new specific aim that addresses an important technical consideration that emerged after the submission and subsequent approval of this proposal. This aim involves adaption of our multi-core parallel computation code developed in Phase I of the SBIR to also run on graphics processor units (GPUs), which are now applicable to a variety of general-purpose scientific/engineering calculations. Use of GPUs has the potential to decrease hardware costs, maximize the realism of the simulation, accelerate market introduction, and broaden the product's potential market. The work requires that SimQuest dedicate an additional computational physics software engineer to the project and fund the work of a graduate student to apply these new technical advances to the open surgery simulator product. The new specific aim will enable (1) completion of an initial evaluation of our existing computation codes and re-architecting them to take advantage of the specific strengths of GPU-based computation, (2) development of new code to work on the GPU, (3) assessment and refinement of that implementation to maximize benefits, and (4) integration of this code with the simulator. Adding this specific aim will enable SimQuest to explore a newly available approach to meeting our product needs that has the potential to expand its market adoption through enabling a lower cost entry price as well as speed its introduction to surgical training through expanded simulation capability. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The wound closure training simulator that will result from this proposed effort will meet the training needs of numerous groups of US healthcare workers, from surgical residents to nurses to emergency medical technicians to military medics. It will provide an effective means of broadly providing consistent best- practices teaching in diverse locations. The result will be a better-trained healthcare workforce that will provide more effective care to the public.