Development of In-Browser Simulators for Medical Education: Introduction of a Novel Software Toolchain

Area of Science:

• * Biomedical Engineering
• * Educational Technology
• * Computational Science

Background:

• * Interactive simulators enhance active learning, problem-solving, and collaboration in education.
• * Developing teaching simulators is complex, requiring diverse expertise (educators, modelers, designers, programmers).
• * User-friendly software toolchains are crucial for simplifying simulator development.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To introduce Bodylight.js, an open-source software toolchain for creating browser-based, client-side teaching simulators.
• * To highlight the toolchain's platform independence, no-installation requirement, and offline functionality.
• * To demonstrate its resilience and adaptability within the evolving software ecosystem.

Main Methods:

• * Integration of open-source web technologies: WebAssembly and JavaScript.
• * Utilization of the Modelica modeling language for model implementation.
• * Deployment via interactive animations created with Adobe Animate.

Main Results:

• * Models implemented in Modelica, exported as Functional Mock-up Units (FMUs) for compatibility.
• * C code from FMUs compiled to WebAssembly using Emscripten.
• * Bodylight.js Composer enables drag-and-drop GUI creation, linking animations, plots, and controls to model variables.
• * Resulting simulators are standalone HTML files with JavaScript and WebAssembly.
• * Successful development and positive reception of physiology simulators (Nephron, Circulation, Pressure-Volume Loop).

Conclusions:

• * Bodylight.js effectively streamlines the development of educational simulators.
• * Future focus includes creating new simulators and interactive textbooks for medical education.
• * The toolchain's applicability extends beyond medical education to diverse fields requiring complex topic simulation.