Breast Cancer Detection: The Development and Pilot Study of a “Tactile Landscape” as a Standardized Testing Tool

Introduction There is still a need for competent breast lump detection palpation skills, especially in developing countries. Our goal is to design, develop, and establish a test to determine whether students can, by touch alone, identify and discriminate between a range of different simulated lesions at different adiposity levels. Methods...

Training Pilots for Unexpected Events: A Simulator Study on the Advantage of Unpredictable and Variable Scenarios

Objective: This study tested whether simulator-based training of pilot responses to unexpected or novel events can be improved by including unpredictability and variability in training scenarios. Background: Current regulations allow for highly predictable and invariable training, which may not be sufficient to prepare pilots for unexpected...

Navigation of guidewires and catheters in the body during intervention procedures: A review of computer-based models

Guidewires and catheters are used during minimally invasive interventional procedures to traverse in vascular system and access the desired position. Computer models are increasingly being used to predict the behavior of these instruments. This information can be used to choose the right instrument for each case and increase the success rate...

An integrated pan-European research infrastructure for validating smart grid systems

A driving force for the realization of a sustainable energy supply in Europe is the integration of distributed, renewable energy resources. Due to their dynamic and stochastic generation behaviour, utilities and network operators are confronted with a more complex operation of the underlying distribution grids. Additionally, due to the higher...

Assessing gaming simulation validity for training traffic controllers.

Background. The Dutch railway company ProRail is performing large-scale capacity upgrades to their infrastructure network. As part of these upgrades, ProRail uses gaming simulations to help prepare train traffic controllers for new infrastructure situations. Researching the validity of these gaming simulations is essential, since the conclusions...

Using Serious Gaming To Make Operations Safer On Anchor Handling Tugs

To an observer, it might appear that anchor handling is a fairly simple straightforward and profit making business. However, with deep-water drilling and fluctuations in price of oil, the operation is becoming riskier than ever before. Besides, operational and environmental constraints, the crew also has to deal with pressures of time and money....

Using a drinking water treatment simulator for operator training: Accelerating the simulated process leads to an increase in learning

The drinking water treatment industry is becoming increasingly centralized and automated. This requires a different operator training approach then the traditional on the job training. To address this requirement a drinking water treatment plant simulator was developed. A major advantage of such a simulator might be that the normally very slow...

Do absorption and realistic distraction influence performance of component task surgical procedure?

Background. Surgeons perform complex tasks while exposed to multiple distracting sources that may increase stress in the operating room (e.g., music, conversation, and unadapted use of sophisticated technologies). This study aimed to examine whether such realistic social and technological distracting conditions may influence surgical performance...

Incorporation of proficiency criteria for basic laparoscopic skills training: How does it work?

Background - It is desirable that surgical trainees are proficient in basic laparoscopic motor skills (eye–hand coordination). The present study evaluated the use of predefined proficiency criteria on a basic virtual reality (VR) simulator in preparation for a laparoscopic course on animal models. Methods - Twenty-eight surgical trainees who...