Fusion of LIDAR and video cameras to augment medical training and assessment

The Mobile Medical Lane Trainer (MMLT) is a multi-sensor rapidly deployed After-Action Review (AAR) system for Army medical lane training. Current AAR systems have two main drawbacks: 1) video does not provide a complete view of the medical and tactical situation, and 2) the video is not readily available for effective evaluation. The MMLT program is developing a “smarter” AAR system by using 3D LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging), a camera array, People Tracking software and Medical Training Evaluation and Review (MeTER) software. This system can be brought to the field and deployed in less than an hour to provide hands-off data collection for the exercise. MMLT supplements existing evaluation systems deployed at the Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTCs) by providing a 3-D perspective of the training event for tactical evaluation with synchronized video technology to capture both tactical and clinical skills and instructor scoring. This capability is used in conjunction with the MeTER system´s skill assessment checklists for automated performance review. An immediate synchronized playback capability has been developed, ultimately resulting in a rapid AAR for debriefing. This paper will discuss the technical components of the system, including hardware components, data fusion technique, tracking algorithms, and camera prioritization approaches, and will conclude with operational test results and lessons learned.