Dynamically Engineered Realistic Moulage for Immersive Simulations (DERMIS)

Medical training is crucial for both military and civilian healthcare, especially in scenarios involving prolonged casualty care (PCC), field care, and nursing. Current simulators lack the realism needed for effective training, relying on unreliable mechanical air bladders and anatomically inaccurate synthetic tissues. These simulators fail to dynamically simulate realistic medical complications, lacking necessary sensory cues such as changes in appearance, texture, and smell. To address these deficiencies, advanced synthetic tissue materials that dynamically respond to medical interventions are needed. These materials should change color and texture to simulate symptoms, swell to simulate edema, secrete liquids like blood and sweat, produce olfactory responses, and control temperature to simulate conditions like fever or frostbite. They should also change in response to simulated treatments. SIMETRI will identify the most suitable materials and technologies to develop synthetic tissues that can dynamically change in appearance, texture, and other sensory cues based on the care being provided. We will develop microcontrollers and software to read and synthesize data from embedded sensors, processing this data in real-time to provide immediate feedback to trainees. Finally, we will design and prototype dynamic synthetic materials to replicate the anatomical features and textures of human tissues.