Simulation Chips for GOLEM - Multimedia Simulator of Physiological Functions

We have designed the multimedia simulator GOLEM to help medical students learn acid-base, electrolyte, osmotic and volume disorders and to train the diagnostic and therapeutic decisions by carrying out simulated interventions on virtual "patients". The core of the simulator is a large simulation model of physiological functions developed in MATLAB and Simulink from Mathworks. The model is built from 18 interconnected “simulation chips” corresponding to certain physiological units. Concept of a simulation chip is explained, its creation, interface and testing described. Industrial developer’s tool Control Web 2000 is used to control and visualize the model. The method of embedding a Simulink model in Control Web is outlined. Simulation chips proved to be understandable for physiologists and seem to be a good method for standardization of the physiological models description.