Ingenuity - New Orleans City Business

educatorsDelgado Community College —Charity School of NursingHigh-tech mannequin gives students a feel for live patientsThe newest addition to the DelgadoCommunity College Charity School ofNursing has increased the caliber of educationat the school and raised the bar onhealth care standards throughout the community.Despite all thishe’s not asking for a raise.But he’s no dummy.Actually,he’s a HumanPatient Simulator, a hightechmannequin configuredto respond just as ahuman body would. Hewas christened Kelly, as atribute to former chancellorDr. J. Terence Kelly,who was instrumental insecuring $153,000 for thehigh-tech learning tool.However, Kelly can beany age or gender.“We can program him to be any ageand he responds physiologically, whichis a real perk because a 78-year-oldman’s body is different, for example thana 25-year-old football player,” saidPatricia Egers, provost for the CharitySchool of Nursing. “We can make himhave diseases, neurological problems orheart problems.”The simulator has vital signs, heartand lung sounds, eyes that blink withpupils that respond to light,and pulses inthe neck, arms and legs. Thesimulator has the ability tobreathe spontaneously, consumeoxygen and producecarbon dioxide. Throughthe use of a wireless microphone,the simulator canalso respond to verbal questionsand state any difficultiesit may be experiencing.Manufactured byMedical EducationTechnologies Inc. inSarasota, Fla., Kelly is oneof only 300 of the tools usedworldwide.“Some of the leading community collegesin the country have it and our chancellorreally pushed for it,” Egers said.The simulator affords an unparalleledlearning experience for Delgadostudents, which the school can’t provideusing a static dummy or realCenter integrates computing into diverse array of fieldsThe Center for Computation andTechnology at Louisiana StateUniversity in Baton Rouge creates technologicalapplications that affect areas asdiverse as medical research, coastal erosionmanagement, astrophysics, andeducational and video games.“We try and make use of cutting-edgetechnology in theresearch groups here toget them really used bydifferent applicationsthroughout the LSUcampus, statewide andbeyond,” said GabrielleAllen, an associate professorof computer scienceand CCT’s assistantdirector for com-Name: DelgadoCommunity College –Charity School ofNursingLocation: New OrleansSchool of NursingProvost: Patricia EgersService: Human patientsimulator trains studentsby reacting justlike a human patient.puting applications.“We also have a mission to encourageeconomic development in the statethrough technology.”That’s a vast job description, especiallyfor a center that has only been in operationsince 2001. However, CCT is led by ateam of technological experts, who envisionthe center as a worldwide resource.Many of the CCT staff arrived last Augustas part of director Edward Seidel’sresearch group, which relocated to thestate from the Max Planck Institute forGravitational Physics (also known as theAlbert Einstein Institute) in Germany.There, most of the staff worked in astrophysics,including Seidel,who is renowned for hisresearch on black holes.Since then, the CCThas been recharged withnew ideas and activity,especially with anupcoming move to anew space. The newbuilding will featureenough room for otherfaculty and students,“so that we have a building where everyonecan be together and leverage eachother’s expertise,” Allen said.Allen also added all the technologies arefundamentally needed for computation.“Computation is an important partnow of many sciences, and just aboutNursing faculty member Mary Trosclair works with students using the Human Patient Simulatornamed Kelly.patients. “The difference is that theycan simulate real life experiences, andwe can guarantee that every studentwill experience certain clinical situations,”Egers said.Kelly has been comfortably situatedin a laboratory designed to resemble ahospital facility, complete with patientroom, nursing station, medical records,supplies and equipment.Delgado has been so pleased withthe enhanced learning experienceprovided by Kelly that in May theLouisiana State University Center forComputation and TechnologyName: Louisiana StateUniversity Center forComputation and TechnologyLocation: Baton RougeDirector: Edward SeidelService: Encouragingeconomic developmentthrough technology.every field on the campus is going to usethe information technology in someway,” Allen said.The CCT is funded by the LouisianaLegislature’s IT initiative, but Allenlooks forward to other sources of funding,because their work is driven byapplications needed in the market. Ifgrants are available to fund specific typesof research, the staff is capable of developingthe applications. One of CCT’sSchool of Nursing acquired anotheradult simulator and a smaller, childversion.The school recently became a continuingeducation provider, which meansthe new tools may be contracted to otherhospitals and health care agencies. Thiswill potentially provide a new source ofrevenue for the school, but, more importantly,it could improve the whole nursingfield, Egers said.— Angelle BergeronThe Securities Markets Analysis Research and Trading Lab at Louisiana State University givesfinance students hands-on experience in trading and investment research.main goals is to help scientists performbetter research.Besidespursuingcomputation/technology projectsworldwide, Allen said the CCT staffplans to offer scholarships, seminarseries and faculty development programsto establish collaborations withother universities and organizations.— Faith Dawson2004 Innovator of the Year 19A