APSF Launching Technology Education Initiative Using Software Developed at CSSALT

The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) in collaboration with the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) will be debuting an online Technology Education Initiative using simulation software developed by our department’s Center for Safety, Simulation & Advanced Learning Technologies (CSSALT). The first course of that initiative, Low-Flow Anesthesia, will be officially released at the ASA annual meeting in New Orleans, LA, in October 2022.

Low-flow anesthesia simulation screenshot

The Low-Flow Anesthesia course includes modeling and screen-based interactive simulation and will be geared toward the entire anesthesiology community. The goal of the course is to empower anesthesia professionals with the knowledge required to reduce fresh gas flow, agent consumption and the environmental impact of their practice safely, cost-effectively and comfortably. As the free, CME-bearing program is web-based, only an internet connection and the Google Chrome web browser (recommended) are needed to access the content. 

The concept of color-coded gas molecules moving inside an anesthesia machine circuit originated from our late J.S. Gravenstein, the first chair of our department and the founder of the department’s engineering division that is now CSSALT. His legacy lives on in the Low-Flow Anesthesia simulation that uses the same intuitive, graphically powerful design concept that is now amplified with the addition of a new mathematical model of the anesthesia machine.

CSSALT is making a timely delivery on the grant it received from APSF in January 2022. The CSSALT software development team led by David Lizdas worked with Jeff Feldman, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and critical care at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as a former UF anesthesiology faculty member; Nik Gravenstein, M.D., the Jerome H. Modell, MD, Professor of Anesthesiology; Sem Lampotang, Ph.D., the Joachim S. Gravenstein Professor of Anesthesiology and director for simulation innovation in the Office of Educational Affairs/Office of Medical Education and of CSSALT; and members of the APSF Committee on Technology, including Butch Loeb, M.D., a former professor in the Department of Anesthesiology. The next course CSSALT will develop as part of the APSF initiative will be for quantitative neuromuscular blockade monitoring where Nik Gravenstein and Larry Caruso will be clinical leads. 

Preview the Low-Flow Anesthesia course using the Google Chrome web browser now and stop by the Low-Flow Anesthesia exhibit at the APSF booth during the ASA 2022 meeting to get an in-person view of how it works!