Systems Design, Modeling, and Simulation in Medicine

Abstract

Health care is changing at a very rapid pace. So does its attendant complexity and ever increasing reliance on high technology support. Technical medicine, where sophisticated, technology-based methods are used in education of healthcare professionals and in treatment of patients, is becoming a recognized discipline. Such methods require a new generation of engineers, scientists, systems designers, and physicians to integrate medical and technical domains. With this in mind, this chapter provides an overview of modeling and simulation technologies as applied to healthcare. A historical perspective is given followed by the discussion of how simulation helps in gaining professional competency and how it improves healthcare outcomes. Systems for support of medical training and clinical practice are discussed from both engineering and clinical perspectives. Challenges and opportunities for further development of complex simulation-based medical trainers are presented as well. NR - 122 PU - SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG PI - CHAM PA - GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND