PSU develops robotic training for medical residents

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WTAJ) – Robotic simulations may help train the next generation of doctors.

Penn State engineering professors teamed up with the College of Medicine to design and implement a new robotic training program that uses real-life manikins and automated feedback to train medical residents and keep patients safe.

In the training program, residents are trained to place central-line catheters (CVC procedures) in specialized manikins — a full body patient simulator that imitates human anatomy — and then use ultrasounds to monitor their progress.

A recently published study showed the training program demonstrated a substantial reduction in placement errors and patient complications, including infections and blood clots.

As of August 2024, the team has trained more than 700 physicians through the robotics training program.

Sanjib Adhikary, professor of anesthesiology at Penn State Health, said using robotics is safe because it removes patients from residents’ training.

“When you’re doing a procedure and directing a new resident, you may say go left, and they have to figure out if they mean your left or their left or the patient’s left — it’s easier to navigate in a controlled environment,” Adhikary said. “That’s why simulation is the way to go. With medical simulation, education can be propagated more easily and safely before they try it on a patient.”

The program is also more cost effective. Adhikary explained that a single supervising physician may be able to train 10 residents a year; whereas a simulation program can train more and provide objective feedback.

“The training ensures that everybody is talking in the same language, that they have the same training,” Adhikary said. “By using the simulator consistently in a standardized way, we are increasing the value of education and of medicine.”

The robotics technology was designed by mechanical engineering professors Scarlett Miller and Jason Moore. Miller explained the robotics training is intended to give residents more practice and reduce the likelihood for mistakes on human patients.

“I was shocked to learn that new physicians who have performed CVC procedures fewer than 50 times were more than twice as likely to commit an error,” Miller said.

While this type of medical training technology has been used previously, the new design is intended to be more resilient and withstand the practice of hundreds of residents. The training robotics is also unique because it alerts residents of potential errors and can be adjusted based on different patient types.

“All of our devices provide a diversity of anatomy,” Moore said. “If we’re able to simulate lots of different types of anatomies and individuals, that wealth of knowledge will translate much better into the clinic by exposing physicians to the variety of patients they will encounter.”

The program has since been used to train residents at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California.

Next, the researchers plan to expand the use of the technology to include colonoscopies, using augmented and virtual reality simulation.

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