iStan puts medics through their paces

A LIFE-SIZE mannequin which can bleed, vomit, sweat and even have a heart attack has been unveiled as the latest hi-tech training tool for health professionals.

The remote-controlled model, named iStan, has been created by the University of Portsmouth to help provide realistic training for doctors, nurses and dentists.

Costing 50,429, iStan has been designed to closely replicate a human’s anatomical structure from the skeleton to the eyes, which have pupils which can dilate and contract. It can also help doctors dealing with stab victims by simulating a bowel protruding from the stomach.

Its blood pressure can also fall, internal organs can bleed, lungs collapse and its bowels even make realistic sounds. Its skin can also have goosebumps and sweat.

Professor Lesley-Jane Eales-Reynolds, said: “For paramedic students he can be put in a crashed car or collapsed at the foot of some stairs, which is precisely the sort of situation they are likely to encounter in the real world.

“He can have a cardiac arrest or an adverse drug reaction in a dental chair, allowing staff and students to practice skills that they could not keep honed using their patients,” she said.

Phil Ashwel who teaches at the university, said: “It is very exciting, it’s a whole new world of learning.