Medical Simulation News

Increasing the efficiency and proficiency of trainees in their procedural diagnostic programs, away from real patients.

The Technical University of Munich's (TUM) Interventional Neuroradiology (INR) department discusses with Philips Healthcare about using Mentice Virtual Patient simulation to reduce the learning curve for learners adopting neurovascular procedures. 

Kashif Ikram MSc. MA. MBA is a MedTech industry expert, and we reconnected with Kashif to follow up on his article in the 2020 Mentice Annual Report – What has changed in the past year?

Kashif has twenty-six years of working with renowned companies such as Zimmer Biomet, Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, and Siemens Healthineers, and has vast experience and knowledge within the field. Kashif is the former EMEA Head of Corindus Vascular Robotics (a Siemens Healthineers’ company) and is currently Vice President at C-RAD AB (Sweden).

China scales up its efforts to be a Global Innovation Center for robotic-assisted image-guided interventions within Health care.

Sweden - Gothenburg, February 28, 2022. European Bifurcation Club (EBC), an esteemed medical organization specialized in the treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions, today announced their endorsement of advanced technical skills adoption and proficiency-based continuous learning. The endorsement is unique for Mentice patented VIST® G7+ Coronary Advanced training module that provides an approved patient-free learning environment for Interventional Cardiologists in the field of bifurcation stenting. 

The German Stroke School is a DGNR initiative to meet the increasing demand for Interventional Neuroradiologists (INRs) trained to perform Mechanical Thrombectomy (MT).

MT is a life-saving procedure in which a clinical device is introduced into the affected brain's vasculature to remove a blood clot mechanically. With several significant studies published from 2015 to-present, MT has been proven to be a highly effective and preferable treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Yet, access to this method is still limited. One of the primary reasons behind the limited access is the scarcity of INRs trained to perform the procedure.  

Siemens Healthineers to include Mentice VIST ® simulators with Corindus CorPath GRX Robotic PCI system (CorPath GRX) in China. 

We had the opportunity to speak to Healthcare Systems key opinion leader Prof. Dr. med. Marcus Katoh, MBA, Chefarzt - Institut für Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie, Helios Klinikum Krefeld and Helios Klinik Hüls. Prof. Katoh was recently appointed as the new chairman of the board of The German Society for Interventional Radiology (DeGIR) and aims to represent all interventional radiologists and minimally invasive radiologists in the DRG, focusing on advanced training and quality assurance in interventional radiology practice.

As interventional procedures become more complex and time-demanding, there is a greater need for physicians to meet increasing procedural challenges with realistic and immersive training solutions. When physicians are able to improve the standards of their procedural workflow proficiency, they unlock new techniques that exponentially boost confidence for health care professionals and positive outcomes for patients and Health care providers. 

Ultimately, these solutions save time on critical life-saving procedures and cut back dramatically on long-term learning and operating costs, all the while bringing a new gold standard to continuous best practice. In this blog, we dive into the virtual patient simulation experiences of dedicated physician and long-time Mentice user Dr. Kornelia Kreiser, Head of Neuroradiology at University Hospital Ulm, Germany. 

As a major proponent for realistic simulation, Dr. Kreiser has experienced all generations of the VIST Virtual patient, from VIST-C, the first portable endovascular simulator, to VIST G5, and through to the current VIST G7- a fully immersive platform with the most advanced technology on the market. We had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about her experiences over the years, and her take on the future of simulation in moving toward vast educational and cost improvements for healthcare systems globally.

Explore the key takeaways of the blog:

1. The evolution of the VIST solutions:
From Technical Skills and Device Manipulation to a Fully Immersive Platform
How the adoption and evolution of VIST solutions have brought about vast improvements to patient outcomes and hospital costs, with quality training curriculums that optimize healthcare workflows and patient safety.

2. The Benefits of Linking Simulation to the Angiography Suite:
Including the ability to import patient-specific data
Beyond procedural & device learning, learn how the extended platform integration allows for pivotal angiography suite training to further benefit both trainees and experienced interventionalists.

3. How virtual patient simulation combined with a structured curriculum can scale up your INR department  
Delve into the specific INR peer and departmental challenges, how such a capital investment was leveraged, the immediate goal for utilization, and why the choice fell on Mentice solutions.

4. The future of simulation:
Impacting procedural standardization and enabling remote training
Virtual patient simulation as a new consensus - the optimal solution for exposure, independent training, remote learning, and a refresher for interventional teams to optimize, realign and regain their subconscious team dynamics.