IVIR Newsletter

Medical simulations lack an official standard for interoperability. While several efforts have made progress, including IVIR’s JETS architecture, these standards have seen limited use outside of specific contracted projects. There is a need to have a well-defined, officially recognized standard for medical simulation interoperability. Medical simulation interoperability provides many advantages for industry members, including the creation of modular systems where multiple companies can each contribute a module that focuses on their respective expertise.

Promoting interoperability also promotes collaboration between companies. Companies with compatible products would be encouraged to partner with each other to sell a modular system consisting of technology from each company, improving their market reach and creating a system that is greater than the sum of its parts. A virtual reality company can partner with a physical simulator company and provide a product that excels in both cognitive and tactile training, giving the end user an experience that seamlessly incorporates both technologies.

In 2025, IVIR worked with representatives from Government and Academia to spearhead the creation of a medical simulation interoperability standards study group within the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO). SISO is an international standards organization responsible for the creation and maintenance of interoperability standards across numerous industries.

The study group, called the Medical Simulation Multi-Modality Data Transfer Study Group, aimed to identify areas in the medical simulation industry that would benefit from having well-defined standards. Members from industry, government, and academia proposed several use cases and identified problems that could be solved by having standards. The use cases included topics such as:

• Physical module connectivity for human patient simulators
• Multi-modal data transfer for digital connections between live, virtual, mixed reality systems
• Interoperability between medical simulation systems and external systems, including learning management systems, logistics systems, and wargaming simulations
• Standards for medical simulation scenarios
• Alignment between medical simulation standards and existing medical terminology standards such as SNOMED and FMA

Due to the wide range of possible standards to develop, the original study group is transitioning to a longer term Standing Study Group (SSG), which will then oversee the creation and organization of Product Development Groups (PDGs) – these PDGs will be responsible for developing standards to solve the problems identified by the Standing Study Group.

If you’d like the join the SSG or the future PDGs, you can become a member of SISO and search the SISO community page for our group: https://sisostandards.connectedcommunity.org/home

We are happy to announce Erin Honold as our featured innovator of the month. Erin has 10 years of experience in the medical simulation industry. After gaining an undergrad in biomedical engineering, her first job out of college tasked her with producing medical trainers. Since she always wanted to work with prosthetics, she was fascinated by the simulation industry. Her interest in the industry led her to IVIR Inc where she is motivated through the “improvements of medical training because the advancements (in this field) mean it is better for the people who learn it and the people who are treated.”

After a busy day, Erin likes to unwind by reading or playing video games. You are most likely to find her reading a James Rollins book or playing Path of Exile. Erin is a woman of many interests that she stays passionate about. Other hobbies of hers include playing golf and collecting house plants. Maybe the IVIR Team will find itself on the golf course with Erin sometime!

As always, it was a pleasure talking with Erin. If you are attending a conference and see her out and about, feel free to stop by and say hello!”

Until next time,

The IVIR Team