This medical training dummy can cry and bleed

Meet Hal

A lifelike dummy.

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is a realistic artificial patient for med students.

There's now a mannequin that shows doctors and nurses in training what it's like to treat a real, suffering patient, said Matt Simon at Wired. Meet Hal, a "hyper-real" robot capable of shedding tears and bleeding, developed by the medical company Gaumard Scientific. Trainees "can wirelessly control him to go into anaphylactic shock or cardiac arrest," and if they "shine a light in his eyes, his pupils shrink." Hal, who will soon be available for $48,000, can be hooked up to real hospital machines; trainees can even "jolt him with a defibrillator."

(Image credit: Courtesy Gaumard Scientific)

Hal is so realistic that instructors have seen trainees become "emotionally charged" by the intense simulations. His realistic breathing is made possible by a mechanical-pneumatic system, and "a cartridge in his leg allows him to exhale CO2." And the fake tears? They're generated by hydraulic systems, while servo motors that tug on his face make him look angry and scared.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us