CAML: a general framework for the development of medical simulation systems

Medical simulation offers the opportunity to revolutionize the training of medical personnel, from paramedics and corpsmen to physicians, allowing early learning to occur in a no-risk environment, without putting patients at risk during the professional's early learning curve. However, the complexity of the problems involved in the development of the medical training systems as well as the spectrum of scientific fields that need to be covered have been a major limiting factor to the achievement of realistic simulations. We think that success in this effort cannot occur through uncoordinated efforts among domain experts working within their own fields. Success will come through medical personnel working side by side with engineers, computer scientists and designers to develop a simulation system that is useful and relevant. As part of our overall program to develop medical simulation, we have identified a critical infrastructure technology that will enable collaboration among simulation developers. When implemented, this Common Anatomy Modeling Language (CAML) will provide a common architecture for integrating the individual components of a medical simulation system.