Technologies

Myocardial infarctions are a leading cause of illness and death, yet there are no interactive media materials available to students or health professionals that demonstrate the events accompanying a heart attack or explain the mechanistic basis of heart attack symptoms and treatments. Using high-quality videotape, a team of medical researchers, practitioners and educators has developed an interactive CD-ROM showing the effects of arterial blockage in an open-chest, pig model of myocardial infarction and the accompanying changes in the electrocardiogram and blood pressure. The videotape shows an exposed, beating heart in which an attack is induced by placing a clamp on the left-anterior, descending coronary artery, to block blood flow.

The main objectives of the CD-ROM are to demonstrate the physical changes in the heart during myocardial infarction; provide mechanistic explanations for these changes; and illustrate the physiological basis for common therapeutic interventions for heart attacks. The CD also provides animations of common tools and procedures for diagnosis and monitoring; video of surgical procedures both preceding and during open-heart surgery; a glossary of terms; and a comprehensive set of test questions.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is seeking commercial partners interested in an open-chested animal teaching video of myocardial infarction.