Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis are special competencies of the Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories which have been developed and refined through years of national defense work. Today, many of these skills are being applied to the problem of understanding the performance of medical devices and treatments. At Sandia National Laboratories we are developing models at all three levels of health care deliveiy: 1) phenomenology models for Observation and Test, 2) model-based outcomes simulations for Diagnosis and Prescription, and 3) model-based design and control simulations for the Administration of Treatment. A sampling of specific applications include non-invasive sensors for blood glucose, ultrasonic scanning for development of prosthetics, automated breast cancer diagnosis, laser burn debridement, surgical staple deformation, minimally invasive control for administration of a photodynamic drug, and human-friendly decision support aids for computer-aided diagnosis. These and other projects are being performed at Sandia with support from the DOE and in cooperation with medical research centers and private companies. Our objective is to leverage government engineering, modeling, and simulation skills with the biotechnical expertise of the health care community to create a more knowledge-rich environment for decision making and treatment.

Date Published: 6 December 1994
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 2307, Health Care Technology Policy I: The Role of Technology in the Cost of Health Care, (6 December 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.195477

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2307:
Health Care Technology Policy I: The Role of Technology in the Cost of Health Care
Warren S. Grundfest M.D., Editor(s)