Goals

In this hands-on research and design team, students will collaborate to discover methods of improving patient-provider interactions with artificial intelligence (AI). Students will learn and apply how AI can mediate conversations in healthcare settings to personalize services, improve the timeliness and effectiveness of provider feedback and improve providers’ metacognitive skills. Project work will take a design thinking approach and engage theory and concepts from adaptive teaching, machine learning, cognitive architecture, human-computer interactions and mHealth to explore ways to innovate healthcare in the digital age.

AI for Medical Interviewing is a team based at the Arizona Simulation Technology & Education Center (ASTEC), where team members engage with a wide array of technological and educational resources to provide interprofessional learning opportunities, with the goal to improve patient outcomes through healthcare education and research.

About ASTEC

ASTEC houses a fleet of computers with multiple programming software, high-fidelity simulators, virtual and augmented reality systems, and 3D printing and model-making capacities, in order to provide a highly realistic and immersive simulation experience to all learners and for everyone else in the community who has interest in simulation technology.

The largest space in the ASTEC Lab is the 6,000-square foot simulation deck. It consists of different types of hospital rooms that house the majority of our high-fidelity patient simulators. Each room is also equipped with audio and visual technology that can be used to record and catalog any session for educational and research purposes. The sim deck also houses three 1080p LCD projectors that display onto a two-story wall screen, where any source media can be shown. Above the projectors is a rig of fully adjustable lights with remote presets and customization.

The Control Room houses 14 computers that have remote access to the patient simulators on the sim deck, as well as A/V access to the entire floor. On the north end of the room is a wall of 20 television monitors that can be controlled individually or as a quad. Each quad or television can be assigned a source to display from a central control panel in the room. ASTEC also has a dedicated room for our completely digital dissection table, as well as virtual and augmented reality systems including the Microsoft Hololens, Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive.

For material design and development, ASTEC has an innovation workshop space that houses our 3D printers, CNC machine, and molding and casting materials. Our 3D printers use SLA as well as DLP printing methods to create in-house models, like patient-specific anatomic models, and rapid prototyping of procedural models for training events and research projects. The lab also creates models using casting/molding with silicone, gelatins, and other materials. These include different silicone models to replicate soft tissues, skin, and wounds; ballistics gel to create models for ultrasound-guided procedures; and other models to allow for practice of high-acuity, low-frequency medical procedures.

Issues Involved or Addressed

Methods and Tech

Academic Majors of Interest

Application Process