Advancements in healthcare-related tech are constantly evolving the way providers and patients interact with medicine. Full Sail University's focus on emerging technologies includes a commitment to working with healthcare professionals to develop tech that helps move the industry forward. In this edition of Tech Tuesday, host and Full Sail's Education Director of Emerging Technologies Dr. Haifa Maamar is joined by AdventHealth University representatives Brandon Baker and Todd Larson, along with Full Sail instructors Shawn Stafford and Rob Catto to discuss the intersections of healthcare and tech and the new Full Sail University Healthcare Technology Lab powered by AdventHealth University.

Partnering with AdventHealth University

One of Full Sail’s latest on-campus technology labs, the Healthcare Technology Lab powered by AdventHealth University, is designed to give the teams at Full Sail and AHU a space to develop innovative solutions to enhance patient safety, training for nurses and other medical professionals, and collaborate on joint healthcare research projects. The relationship evolved out of a mutual interest in developing healthcare advancements through extended reality, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence, and the partnership between the two universities has seen successful projects including developing virtual reality training modules and prosthetic printing.

In the lab, students from both universities can explore innovative healthcare applications and get hands-on experience with access to industry-standard equipment and technology including a Stratasys F770 Large Format 3D Printer. “If we need to do a prosthetic for someone, we can print a whole leg,” says Simulation and Visualization Program Director Rob Catto. “It really revolutionizes the way we do things. The room will fluctuate with technology as projects come and go, it’s a flexible space.”

Training in Virtual Reality

Virtual and augmented reality both present great opportunities for advancements in healthcare, specifically when it comes to training doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers.

“With traditional training, you usually have to bring people to your facility or be in some sort of formal classroom or have the equipment readily available to do it. In the pandemic’s case, we couldn’t do that,” shares Todd Larson, Director of Simulation & Innovative Technologies with AHU. “So we’ve got to find a different way to learn, VR provides a great platform for that.”

With VR and AR technologies applied to training, modules are more consistent, less impacted by human error, and allow for far greater accessibility. The inclusion of extended reality and artificial intelligence in training also provides learners with a safe environment to practice and make mistakes with less consequence than they may have in a clinical setting.

Full Sail and AHU have collaborated on several virtual training modules including a medical training simulation for nursing utilizing haptic gloves and another featuring a portable X-ray machine create using LiDAR technology to produce an exact virtual replica.

Evolving Healthcare

As technology continues to evolve, the applications for healthcare will evolve with them. Continued innovative solutions in tech will allow healthcare providers to lower costs, service patients more effectively and broadly, and provide faster and more accurate results. “I’m excited about using [tech] to augment what we currently do, lowering patient anxiety and improving the process,” says Full Sail instructor Dr. Shawn Stafford. “Any of these technologies are a really good opportunity for us…to meet the needs of the future.”

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