BioGears is an open source, comprehensive, extensible human physiology engine that will drive immersive medical education and training technologies. The BioGears physiology engine platform will allow for distributed collaboration and consistent simulation across the medical training community. http://biogearsengine.com/

1. Mr. Jerry Heneghan, Director of HumanSim Product Development,
Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA)
28 January 2014
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Open-Source Physiology Model for
Simulation-Based Training

2. • TATRC Funded Project: W81XWH-13-2-0068
• “This work is supported by the US Army Medical Research
and Materiel Command.”
• “The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report
are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as
an official Department of the Army position, policy or
decision unless so designated by other documentation.”
• Unreal® Engine Licensing (UnrealEngine.com)
• I am the Unreal licensing manager in the government
vertical
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Disclaimers

3. • Director of Product Development "BioGears
is
a
project
of
great
importance
to
the
for
medical
simula:on
community
and
the
HumanSim® at ARA
advancement
of
immersive
medical
technologies.
• Founder and former CEO of
Our
team
looks
forward
to
crea:ng
the
most
Virtual Heroes, Inc. acquired ’09 comprehensive,
open
source
mathema:cal
model
• Executive Producer for America’s of
human
physiology
available.”
–
Mr.
Jerry
Heneghan
Army Game
• Program manager in the Technology Assisted Learning
Division of the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) - focused on
the game technologies for healthcare training and education
• Game producer at Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Entertainment
• Started his career in the military and served as a U.S. Army Aviator
(AH-64 pilot) in assignments all over the world
• Holds an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke
University and a B.S. in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy
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BioGears: Principal Investigator

4. • BioGears has four main
parts a physiology engine,
common data model,
extensive documentation
and BioGearsEngine.com
that gives everyone
access to state-of-the-art
physiology modeling
software.
• Both the common data
model and the physiology
engine will be open
source.
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What is BioGears?

5. BioGears: Project Goals
• Create a publicly available physiology research
platform that enables accurate and consistent
simulated physiology across training applications
• Lower the barrier to create medical training
content
• Engage the community to develop and extend
physiology models
• Meet the training needs of the military
• Expand the body of knowledge regarding the use
of simulated physiology for medical education
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• The goals of BioGears are:

6. • ARA is the prime contractor
• We have a mix of engineers, computer scientists and
biomedical personnel contributing to BioGears
• Bryan Bergeron, M.D. (www.bryanbergeron.com)
• We are identifying additional partners who have expertise
specifically in the areas of pharmacokinetics, and modeling
of chronic conditions
• We are seeking an experienced physiology modeler to join
ARA’s team
• For more information please see www.careers.ara.com
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BioGears: Project Team

7. BioGears: Anticipated Schedule
2013
Current
Progress
2014
Milestone: Project Kick Off (Sept 15, 2013)
Creation of Common Data Model
Rearchitecture of Physiology Engine
Base System Development
Base System Validation
2015
Feature Development
Feature Validation
Community Outreach
Milestone: Beta Build Release and Users’ Group Conference
(Fall 2015)
2016
2017
7
Engine Maintenance
Continued Community Involvement
Publications
(2017) Website Maintenance Only
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Milestone: Mini Build Release and Website Launch (Sept 2014)

8. BioGears: Engine Capabilities
•
•
•
•
•
•
• Features:
Blood Chemistry
Cardiovascular
Energy
Fluids
Respiratory/Gas Exchange
Renal
• Hemorrhage
• Smoke Inhalation
• Exercise
• Additional Systems
• Anesthesia Machine
• ECG
• Drug Administration
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• Physiology Systems:

9. BioGears: Engine Methodology
• Systems use a circuit representation or lumped parameter
approach composed of compartments
• Interface commands allow users to trigger events that the
systems reacts to
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• Systems then monitor compartment information to trigger
physiological responses and feedback mechanisms

10. BioGears: Engine Methodology Example
70
12
68
8
66
4
64
800
10
900
1000
Time
Time
1100
1200
BioGearsEngine.com
0
1300
Respiration Rate
16
Respiration Rate
20
72
Heart Heart Rate
Rate
74
Respiration
Heart Rate
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• Inject Succinylcholine (muscle relaxant)
• Cardiovascular circuit transports around the body
• Appropriate compartment detects level and reduces spontaneous
respirations and heart contractility
• Endocrine system releases hormones to increase heart rate and blood
pressure once low arterial oxygen is detected
• Resistance and capacitance of the cardiovascular system compartments
is modified in an effort to compensate/stabilize the body

11. BioGears: Software Common Data Model (CDM)
• Object Oriented Design of class structures that provides a
unified set of data objects for physiology simulation
• Anatomy, Circuits, Compartments, Equipment, Patient, and
Substances/Drugs
• This representation supports the structure, relationships, and
organization of data, and provides a standard for data exchange
• Provides the link between physiological data and the
mathematics needed to accurately represent and evaluate a
series of systems and events
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• Implemented in an eXtensible Markup Language (XML)
schema

12. BioGears: Envisioned Users
Engine
Integrator
BioGears
Contributor
External
Model/
Engine
Developer
Use
the
engine
as
is
via
the
API
Adds
systems
to
the
engine
Uses/extends
CDM
to
drive
their
model
Extends
func:onality
Ex.
Game
Developers
Replaces
systems
with
other
models
Runs
BioGears
engine
and
other
engine(s)
in
tandem
BioGears will be open source all code under the BSD 3 license
•
•
•
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Creates
customer
files
(pa:ents,
drugs,
command
lists,
etc)
as
input
to
BioGears
engine
for
research
purposes
Includes the CDM and Engine, plus other framework support
BSD 3 license is a GPL-compatible software license that allows unlimited
modification and/or redistribution of code and/or derived products for any purpose
as long as its copyright notices and the license's disclaimers of warranty are
maintained
While it is encouraged that any modification or extension to the BioGears code
base be made available to the community, under BSD 3, it is not required for
modifications to be released to the community
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•
Researcher/
Educator

13. BioGears: Software Deliverables
• Software Development Kit (SDK) (Targets: Integrator)
•
•
•
•
•
Built Binaries and Headers
Front facing Interface only access point
Code Examples
Doxygen style documentation for every interface/function
Datasets: Patient, Drug, configuration files, etc
• Header, Code, and project files (makefiles, msvc projects, etc.)
• Full Doxygen style documentation inline for entire engine code
base including functionality, references, assumptions etc.
• System Level Documents (Targets: Researcher,
Contributor, Model Developer)
• Word Documents for each system
• Methodology of the system, good background information for
papers and researchers
• Does not cover the workings of every subroutine in the code
base
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• Source Code (Targets: Integrator, Contributor, Model
Developer, Researcher)

14. BioGears: Showcase Scenarios
• Male, 25 y/o, high level of physical
conditioning
• Actions/Interventions: Performing strenuous
exercise at high altitude. Results in heat stroke
• Assessments: Core temperature, sweat rate,
pallor, heart rate
• Actions/Interventions: Administer drugs,
intubate
• Assessments: Blood panel, respiration rate,
ETCO2, Heart rate, BP, SPO2, PFT
• Male 60 y/o, hypertensive, diabetic, obese:
• Actions/Interventions: Drug administration
• Assessments: Blood Panel, Urine Panel,
EKG, Retina Assessment
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Sedation & Airway Images
Project funded by TATRC
Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. Applied Research Associates, Inc.
• Female, with Asthma, 12 hrs NPO, OR

15. BioGears: Showcase Scenarios contd.
• Female, 17 y/o, exposure elements
• Male 22 y/o, massive trauma
resulting in hemorrhage, tension
pneumothorax
• Actions/Interventions: Tourniquet
Application, Needle Decompression,
drug and fluid administration
• Assessments: Bleeding rate, heart
rate, blood pressure, distal pulse,
respiration rate
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Combat Medic Images
Project funded by Army RDECOM
Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. Applied Research Associates, Inc.
• Actions/Interventions: Environment
customization for heat loss and body
insulation; variation of nutritional/
hydration state
• Assessments: Core /Peripheral
temperature, Heart Rate, Respiration
Rate

16. • Under Development
• Learn about the engine and
the BioGears project
• Download the engine (mini
build 2014, beta build 2015)
• Connect with community
members via forums
• Share scenario files, see
how others are using the
engine
• Sign Up for conference and project news
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BioGearsEngine.com

17. BioGears: How to Contribute
• Source Code:
• Primary trunk and contributor branches available via Google Code
• Link to source provided at BioGearsEngine.com (first build available
Fall 2014)
• Configuration and Data Files:
• Scenario files, patient files, drug files, etc, can be accessed and posted
on BioGearsEngine.com
• Forum discussions, uploaded publication and other documents that
discuss the use, validation, and extensions of the BioGears engine
• Example:
• A user can create a branch to model a new feature. Then discuss their
contributions and provide configuration and analysis information via the
website forums.
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• Analysis:

18. BioGears: Conference 2015
• How to use BioGears in your application
• How you can contribute to the ongoing body of knowledge
• Demonstrating how BioGears is working in a medical training tool
ARA is developing for the Army
• We are looking for interested parties to sign up to
participate, speak and display.
• Please ‘sign up’ via BioGearsEngine.com to keep up with
news about the project and the conference!
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• In Fall 2015 the BioGears team will hold a conference in the
Raleigh/Durham area.
• The conference will coincide with our BioGears Engine Beta
Build release and will focus on:

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QUESTIONS