12 December 2009: IVIR Inc. demonstrated its latest research and development prototypes at the 2009 Special Operations Medical Association Conference in Tampa Florida. Products included multi-task upper extremity trainers for hemorrhage control, orthopedic stabilization, intravenous access, and suturing. These partial task trainers incorporate the latest technological advances in mechanical capabilities and live tissue replacement materials. The multi-task trainers are currently under development for the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command Simulation and Training Technology Center (RDECOM – STTC) for use by military combat medical personnel.
The devices were integrated with the Medical Pre/Post Knowledge Generation System portion of the Medical Training Evaluation and Review System (MeTER), recently delivered to the U.S. Army RDECOM – STTC for use by the Army Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTCs). Inclusion of the ongoing tactical and clinical skills assessment will provide the training effectiveness measurement data to evaluate student performance and decision-making in a tactical environment.
3 November 2009: The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Simulation and Training Technology Center (RDECOM – STTC) awarded IVIR Inc. and its partner Engineering and Computer Simulations (ECS), the 3rd phase of the research and development contract that will expand the Medical Training Evaluation and Review System (MeTER), with clinical medical knowledge area skills. Adding the clinical skills involves applying the cognitive knowledge into actual application through psychomotor performance. Tasks relevant to the clinical skills arena, defined by doctrinal literature, lessons learned and appropriate proponent agencies, will be identified to determine psychomotor skills baselines. Integration to previous cognitive skills assessment and ongoing tactical skills assessment will provide the measurement data to evaluate student performance and decision-making in a tactical environment.
The 1st phase of the MeTER R&D effort populated the medical technical knowledge into an automated educational assessment system and implementation of the tactical skills, phase 2, is currently underway. This effort is for the United States Army Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTCs), recently fielded by the Program Executive Office for Simulation Training and Instrumentation (PEOSTRI).
15 October 2009: Mr. John J. Anton, Principle Investigator for IVIR Inc., was awarded Best Paper for “The Application of Modeling and Simulation to the Behavioral Deficit of Autism” at the MODSIM World Conference and Expo in Virginia Beach, VA. In his presentation at MODSIM, Mr. Anton described a research concept to apply technological advances, in virtual reality simulation and computer games, to create behavioral modification programs for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The paper was a collaborative effort with Mr. Brent Smith, Dr. Brian Goldiez, and Dr. Mark Wiederhold and tied for first place in the Health & Medicine category. Alleviating the symptoms of Autism, remains a cause, to which, the IVIR Inc. Team is dedicated.
7 October 2009: IVIR Inc., together with its academic partner, the University of Minnesota Medical School, is pleased to announce the award and completion of a Department of Veterans Affairs Contract to ‘Train the Trainers’. The IVIR and University of Minnesota Medical School Team provided medical simulation instructor training to a multidisciplinary group of twenty clinical leaders and educators from VISN 23, the Midwest Health Care Network. The training was conducted in September and covered the details, high-level elements, and concepts associated with running effective simulation programs. It addressed matching simulation technology to educational objectives, backward curriculum design, critical event response, measuring performance, scenario development, and effective feedback/debriefing strategies. It included a number of practical exercises, hands on demonstrations, and expert panel discussions.
24 July 2009: The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Simulation and Training Technology Center (RDECOM – STTC) awarded IVIR Inc. and it’s partner Engineering and Computer simulations (ECS), the second phase of a research and development contract that will populate the Medical Training Evaluation and Review System (MeTER), with tactical medical knowledge area skills. IVIR Inc. recently designed and delivered the prototype system and educational architecture for the first phase, and populated the MeTER system with a bank of 750+ pre/post questions derived from Combat Lifesaver and Combat Medic Programs of Instruction. The MeTER system facilitates the insertion of additional modules for other elements to include applied medical skills, tactical skills, as well as full integration of any simulation or after action review system. This effort is for the United States Army Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTCs) recently fielded by the Program Executive Office for Simulation Training and Instrumentation (PEOSTRI).
11 May 2009: Ms. Catherine Strayhorn, CEO IVIR Inc., announced that Mr. Robert Clayton has joined the company as the Vice President of Innovative Research. Mr. Clayton is the former Director of Biomedical Research and Development for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Mr. Clayton brings with him many years of military, test and evaluation and research and development experience. He is a founding member of the Special Operations Medical Association.
1 May 2009: The IVIR Inc. Team extends thanks and gratitude to all of our customers, associates, and family members for making our first year in business successful! Happy Anniversary IVIR Inc.!
15 April 2009: Information Visualization and Innovative Research Inc., in conjunction with its partner, Engineering and Computer Simulations Inc. (ECS), has been awarded a research and development contract by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Simulation and Training Technology Center (RDECOM – STTC). The contract is the beginning of a multi-phase effort to develop more realistic, upper extremity, partial task trainers, for more effective, military war fighter training.
2 April 2009: Mr. Jay Anton, Principal Investigator for Information Visualization and Innovative Research Inc. has been invited to speak at the second annual Medical Technology, Training and Treatment (MT3) Conference held in May at the Renaissance Orlando Resort at Sea World, Orlando Florida. Mr. Anton will present on the challenge of modeling and simulating live tissue.
15 March 2009: Ms. Emily Burns, Senior Test Engineer for IVIR Inc. has been appointed as a voting member of the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Conference (I/ITSEC) Simulation Subcommittee. I/ITSEC is the premier event of its kind in the world. The conference draws over 16,000 attendees from industry, government, and academia, and features over 500 exhibits. I/ITSEC is sponsored by the National Training and Simulation Association, an affiliate of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). The Simulation Subcommittee is dedicated to advancing the science of modeling and simulation, including simulation architectures or techniques, and the representation of synthetic entities or environments for use in simulation, training, rehearsal, gaming or analysis. Ms. Burns represents expertise in medical modeling and simulation.
1 March 2009: IVIR Inc. announced today that the company, in conjunction with the University Of Central Florida Incubator Office, will conduct a series of workshops for small businesses that have a product they want to take to market. The first workshop will be held in Orlando at UCF on 22 July 2009. One of the most challenging areas for small business is Productization strategy and market penetration. The workshop is conducted in five phases, Defining Your Product, Evaluating The Elements of Your Product Design, Assessing Your Intellectual Property Value, Constructing A Productization Strategy, and Developing A Market Penetration Road Map. The workshop is four hours and includes information handouts and a practical exercise.
20 February 2009: Mr. John J. Anton, Principle Investigator for IVIR Inc., in conjunction with the U.S. Army Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) and the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM), was selected to present at the Society for Applied Learning Technology (SALT) New Learning Technologies Conference, in Orlando FL, February 2009. Mr. Anton and his collaborators reported on the development of the Medical Knowledge Training Evaluation and Reporting System (MKTERS), as part of an overall learning management system for the U.S. Army’s Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTCs). This research and development program is populatingSIMILE™, an existing computer based educational assessment tool kit, with military technical knowledge arena skills in order to produce an automated student pre/post-test customized to specific job and experience related categories. These tests will then be used to tailor individual training curriculum and assess training effectiveness of that curriculum to include student performance and instructional methodology. The system will be capable accepting other modules as necessary and will be interoperable to current and future planned educational instruments in use at the MSTCs. This effort will facilitate standardized training platforms, consistency of instruction, competency based outcomes, and measurable results on both student and instructor performance, as well as, training modality efficacy.
6 January 2009: Mr. Jay Anton, Principle Investigator for IVIR Inc., in conjunction with the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) have been selected to present at the International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA) Live-Virtual-Constructive Conference in El Paso, Texas, January, 2009. Mr. Anton and his collaborators will report on the Independent Test and Evaluation of the Stand Alone Patient Simulator (SAPS). The SAPS, developed by RDECOM, represents new, disruptive, medical simulation technology that, once fielded, will significantly increase combat medical readiness. This effort is a precedent setting event for the world of medical modeling and simulation and marks the first time a manikin based patient simulator has gone through the Verification, Validation, and Accreditation (V, V&A) process. It also applies the full application of the system engineering process to a test and evaluation construct.
5 January 2009: Ms. Catherine Strayhorn, CEO is pleased to announce that Ms. Nadine Baez has accepted a position with IVIR Inc. Ms. Baez joins the IVIR Inc. team from the District 5 Medical Examiner’s Office where she was an experienced Forensic Investigator. Ms. Baez holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Micro/Molecular Biology, as well as, Forensic Science-Serology from the University of Central Florida. Additionally, she is Registry Certified by the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigation. Her addition to IVIR Inc. brings a new dimension to its team of Medical Simulation experts particularly in the area of Live Tissue Replacement Research and Development.