OSF HealthCare Newsroom

Shockwave therapy offers a non-surgical path to recovery for soft tissue injuries

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 12:10:52 -0500

A Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, attorney says a new type of treatment that uses sound waves to stimulate cell regrowth has been a game-changer for her.

The treatment, called Shockwave, provided relief after years of chronic Achilles tendinitis that had gradually become debilitating. The woman, who asked not to be identified for privacy reasons, says she continued running through the pain for years before her condition worsened.

At one point she started walking on her heels, not going through her full range of motion because of the pain. The years of running through the pain did damage.

“It’s really created a lot of scar tissue for me. So, nothing else worked. They did blading and a number of different PT [physical therapy] approaches with me, and they weren’t making any meaningful progress for me. But the Shockwave completely worked,” she says with a smile.

Blading is a soft tissue therapy that uses a smooth, hard tool to scrape or glide over the skin and underlying muscles, fascia and tendons. Looking for a noninvasive, drug-free treatment for chronic pain, the woman turned to Shockwave. Shockwave therapy uses sound energy delivered through a handheld probe to stimulate the body's natural healing response. Her sessions last 20 minutes [10 minutes for each foot and ankle], with one session each week for a month.

“Been like magic”

She says the treatment has been like magic for her. Gel is applied to the area, and a technician runs the Shockwave wand along the affected area.

“It took me from not being able to enjoy being out and about and walking and doing all of the things that one does physically during the day without pain. With this treatment, I am able to enjoy all of that and be pain free. So, it’s really been a remarkable avenue of treatment for me.”

People suffering from chronic foot, ankle and soft tissue pain might have a promising alternative to surgery through Shockwave therapy, according to Bryce Paschold, DPM, a foot and ankle surgeon with OSF HealthCare who has delivered the high-energy acoustic wave treatment for more than a decade.

Dr. Paschold explains the treatment creates controlled stress in damaged tissue, encouraging increased blood flow and tissue regeneration.

"Basically, what it's doing is it's kind of creating this new external stimulus, really causing this internal response by the body. So, it's helped the body's healing itself," Dr. Paschold explains. “It's an all-natural way of doing things.”

The therapy is most commonly used for conditions such as rotator cuff tears, golfer’s elbow, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis and other inflammatory soft tissue injuries. People typically undergo four weekly treatments, each lasting about 10 minutes.

No downtime

One of the biggest advantages, Dr. Paschold says, is that people can resume normal activities immediately after treatment. There’s little to no downtime.

“We treat Illinois Wesleyan and Illinois State athletes and high school athletes around. We’re doing this a lot on them because it's just a great tool that is safe, and they can go right back to practice and play."

The local lawyer who was debilitated by her tendonitis says the treatments are a little uncomfortable as sound waves are sent into the damaged tissue.

“They’re getting thousands of those [sound waves] in a treatment in a few minutes. And it goes very quickly. And it’s moving all around, and when you get to the second level, which is the superficial level, it feels a little bit more intense,” she describes. “There is some discomfort at some points but all very tolerable and absolutely worth it.”

Dr. Paschold shares that stories like hers are not uncommon among people who have exhausted other treatment options. While Shockwave therapy is not appropriate for every condition, he believes it has significantly reduced the need for surgical intervention in many soft tissue cases.

The attorney occasionally returns for maintenance treatments when symptoms begin to reappear, particularly after activities that place extra stress on the tendon. Even so, she views the therapy as an important tool for managing her condition.

Follow all other recommendations for healing

Dr. Paschold emphasizes that people should continue following recommended stretching, strengthening and footwear guidelines alongside treatment. The attorney agrees, noting that she has learned to balance activity with recovery and follow medical advice after treatments.

“I usually feel so good that I immediately want to go out and do a fast walk or bike, and I would say that following the directions and really trying to not do that for 24 to 48 hours does help the end results. It’s just hard because you’re feeling better,” she shares.

While results vary, Dr. Paschold emphasizes most people experience meaningful improvement over time, with studies suggesting the therapy's full effects might take several months to develop.

Although Shockwave therapy is generally paid for out of pocket because it is often not covered by insurance, the attorney believes the benefits have made it worthwhile for her. The treatment at OSF typically costs $175 for each of the four weekly treatments.

For the busy, athletic lawyer, the greatest benefit has been the ability to return to normal daily activities without constant pain.

Dr. Paschold calls Shockwave therapy one of the most reliable tools available for treating chronic inflammatory and tendon-related conditions without surgery. Over the past decade, he believes he’s saved several dozens of people from having to undergo surgery.

Dr. Paschold is a foot and ankle surgeon for OSF Orthopedics in Bloomington, Illinois.

Video clips with Shockwave patient

Video clips with Dr. Bryce Paschold

B-roll-Shockwave treatment

OSF-ISU train the trainers to handle medical emergencies as Fall sports approach

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 08:53:00 -0500

A group of about 40 participants in a recent training session at the OSF HealthCare Athletic Training Center at Illinois State University braved high humidity in the domed field to get a refresher on emergency procedures for medical emergencies during high school practices or sporting events.

As part of a collaboration, athletic trainers from ISU and OSF HealthCare gave high school trainers and master’s degree students from ISU’s Athletic Training program a refresher on critical skills. The timing was planned to be aligned with the start of practices and the Illinois High School Athletic Association (IHSA) sports season on August 11.

Joe Whitson, former athletic trainer and OSF HealthCare manager of the office that provides physician athletic trainers, says they simulated some of the most common conditions trainers see on the field.

“We had various stations going on, whether it was splinting and spine boarding, treatment of the spine-injured athlete. Dr. Rai, one of our sports medicine physicians, was here as well to help supervise. He was here giving pointers, walking around the stations, also working with our athletic trainers, giving them pointers and tips on skills that they can utilize out in the clinical field.”

OSF provides athletic trainers to seven local high schools, which were represented in the training. Whitson says the training helped reinforce how to identify symptoms of various conditions.

“Hitting tips on hydration, hitting tips on how to recognize the difference between sickle cell anemia, heat stroke and rhabdomyolysis. Unfortunately, with the increase in high school participation, high school athletes participating in sports, obviously, the incidence of these types of episodes are increasing as well.”

Rhabdomyolysis is a serious condition where damaged muscle tissue breaks down, releasing its contents into the bloodstream.

Whitson says every year there are headlines of student athletes who have issues and are admitted to the hospital due to some of these conditions, so it was important to go over related symptoms and emergency procedures, not only to know how to respond, but also how to prevent medical emergencies.

High school athletes want to perform at their highest level, and in many cases, they’re pushing for a college scholarship, so Whitson says it’s important for coaches to have support from medically trained professionals.

“That’s really a benefit that we've been able to provide here at OSF within the community, to be able to have those athletic trainers as resources, so that the coaches at all of our high schools have a resource to be able to lean on that’s clinically and medically trained to be able to handle those types of situations.”

The training emphasized communication as participants switched off playing roles, serving either as the lead practitioner, a medical assistant or the athlete. The training even highlighted infant CPR in case of a situation that might occur in stands.

Whitson stresses the IHSA has put safety standards into place to prevent injuries and medical emergencies and he says athletic trainers provide education around those protocols.

“The athletic directors obviously are in charge and kind of house enforcement of some of those things for student athlete safety. And that's the great thing where these athletic trainers from OSF, are able to come in and be able to educate the athletic directors, the student athletes, the coaches, and give those speaking points that are critical to be able to take care of them.”

ISU’s athletic training department has been hosting emergency training events for several years to make sure its staff is ready to handle emergencies that arise. This year, under a new collaboration with OSF HealthCare, it was the first time it was open to other community members.

Joe Whitson

B-roll for OSF-ISU train the trainers for medical emergencies

Illinois State University celebrates OSF HealthCare naming its Athletic Indoor Practice Center

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 17:40:24 -0500

The sun shone brightly on the signature OSF HealthCare brown and white logo which now adorns the Illinois State University Athletic Indoor Practice Center – a nearly 79,000-square-foot facility just north of Horton Fieldhouse that includes a 100-yard practice football field with a single end zone.

Kids played various games and engaged with student athletes in the heated, inflatable dual-membrane fabric air dome designed for year-round use by Redbird student-athletes. It also has artificial turf to match the current surface at Hancock Stadium.

The open house celebration was held prior to the Illinois State football spring game. OSF STEAM hosted a table where kids learned about color blindness with special 3D glasses, plus they explored the human brain with specimens they could experience hands-on. They also took away a coloring page as part of activities designed to engage young people to think about the wonders of science and a potential career in medicine.

OSF decided to make a significant financial contribution to the long-anticipated ISU athletic indoor practice facility on the heels of a five-year agreement that made OSF HealthCare the official health care provider for Illinois State University athletics in an exclusive partnership. As part of that agreement, OSF HealthCare provides Illinois State University student-athletes with access to athletic trainers, sports medicine providers, orthopedic surgeons, and behavioral health professionals.

OSF HealthCare Eastern Region Chief Medical Officer Carol Friesen says the strong partnership between two long-standing community organizations is about contributing to better education, and health and wellness.

“It’s important that we take care of each other. Health care and academics are the lynchpin of every community and if we’re strong, then the whole community is vibrant. So, we wanted to make an investment in a meaningful way that would further what’s going on here at ISU.”

Friesen was astounded to learn 19 different sports on campus use the facility, along with community use by various travel sports teams. OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center President Eunmee (pronounced UHN-may) Shim was impressed by the size and scope of the facility and shared that the significant OSF investment reflects its Mission to serve with the greatest care and love. Plus, it supports a potential future talent pool.

“Investing in ISU makes perfect sense because we’ll be getting the talents from them. They are the anchor of the community we can serve together.”

Athletic Director Jeri Beggs says having an indoor practice facility is so necessary to remain a competitive program in NCAA Division 1 athletics. But even Beggs was surprised by how many sports are now using the building.

“Our golf team loves this space because they can chip and actually see the trajectory of the ball. Baseball and softball play almost legitimate games in here. They put home plate over here. Softball says it’s basically a real field for them except right field is a little short. So, all of our sports come in here – just doing sprints in here.” She adds, “It has changed every sport that we have.”

Retired former athletic director Larry Lyons started the fundraising and planning for the facility. Head football coach Brock Spack credits him with a vision for the indoor practice center, as well as for improving other facilities dating back to Spack's start with the university 15 years ago. But Spack says without financial support from OSF HealthCare, Lyon’s vision might not have become reality.

Spack also points out the impressive facility has helped with recruiting, and he says it has made a significant difference in the excitement and performance among student athletes.

“It doesn’t matter when we practice here – whether its spring or winter, or fall, they come in here and they play lights out because I think it has a big-time feel to it, and they feel like a big-time team in here. We have really good practices in here.”

Redbird Athletics dedicated and officially opened the newly named OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center on September 30, 2023.

Carol Friesen & Eunmee Shim

Jeri Beggs & Brock Spack

B-roll of OSF-ISU Naming Celebration

Energy drinks | Fuel or failure for athletes?

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 08:00:00 -0600

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) makes clear that energy drinks are “fundamentally different” than sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade.

But scrolling through social media or strolling through the grocery store aisle, and the lines start to blur a bit. When quarterback Justin Fields was a rookie, he inked an endorsement deal with C4 – an energy drink brand.

More recently, CELSIUS signed six Heisman Trophy “hopefuls” to NIL (name, image and likeness) deals. The company’s slogan is “live fit,” a motto many athletes can relate to.

Karan Rai, MD, is a sports medicine physician with OSF HealthCare who works in partnership with Illinois State University to see and treat ISU athletes. He says he’s having a lot of conversations with athletes about these types of drinks, and he always urges caution.

"Quite a few of them are not FDA approved," Dr. Rai says. “The reason that matters is that we often don't know the exact ingredients or mix of ingredients that are in the drinks. Depending on what's in the drink, that can affect your performance and your health. For example, caffeine is commonly involved in making these drinks.”

CELSIUS and C4, both have 200mg of caffeine content in a 16 ounce can. In contrast, a can of Pepsi has 38mg in a 12-ounce can, while an average 8-ounce cup of coffee has between 80-100mg of caffeine. Dr. Rai says higher levels of caffeine can have a negative effect on performance.

"It can cause excessive energy, anxiety and jitteriness, which depending on your sport or activity, can affect how you play,” Dr. Rai says. "The data is still a little bit mixed on the benefit things like green tea extract or guarana are providing, which are commonly marketed and used in sports drinks.

In terms of what liquids athletes are putting into their bodies, Dr. Rai likes to break down hydration based on the activity.

"In activities that are generally 60 minutes or less, I recommend maximizing your water intake and timing that for at least 30-60 minutes before your activity," Dr. Rai says. “Then as you get into longer duration activities with more endurance, and you're pushing that 60-minute mark or longer, that's when you need to look into the type of electrolytes you're ingesting as well. Looking at drinks or gels out there that have a mix of sodium and potassium. Those typically help with performance during your activity.”

Another sign if you’re drinking enough water? The color of your pee.

"I often tell my patients and athletes to consider their urination. Typically, we have various scales we use based on your urine color, the amount you're urinating and how thirsty you feel. That can play a role in deciding if you need to hydrate with water alone or use a sports drink like Powerade or Gatorade. Or if you need to adjust your salt intake, things like that," Dr. Rai says.

If you have an underlying heart condition, are younger than 18 or are pregnant, Dr. Rai urges you to steer clear of these drinks.

“With quite a few of the sports performance drinks nowadays, which CELSIUS is one of them that's more publicized, the amount of caffeine in it, and ingredients like guarana, which has a caffeine component to it, can exacerbate underlying arrythmias,” Dr. Rai says. “This can put someone with a pre-existing risk at a higher risk.”

Sports drinks like Powerade and Gatorade have a sugar and electrolyte component that is "fairly safe," Dr. Rai says. But the effects of Celsius, Prime and other drinks out there aren't fully understood yet. So, proceed with caution. Talk with your primary care provider or sports medicine physician to get an individualized take on it.

Video Interview Clips

Testing the path to better concussion diagnosis

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 08:53:54 -0500

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa recently suffered his third confirmed concussion in 25 months – just another reminder that football and other contact sports pose the threat of a traumatic brain injury. Research indicates it’s important to accurately and immediately diagnose a concussion because the consequences of misdiagnosis or faulty management can lead to major disability or death.

Illinois State University senior Cyerra Hibbert knows about concussions. She’s had multiple ones while playing soccer in high school and at ISU, the most recent just a month ago. Hibbert is one of the first athletes to test a new FlightPath concussion app. The lead app developer is *Adam Cross, MD, a pediatric hospitalist and clinical informaticist for OSF HealthCare and director of the OSF Children’s Innovation Lab at Jump Simulation & Education Center in Peoria, Illinois. He is working with co-lead Inki Kim, of the Health Care Engineering Systems Center at the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The concussion assessment app is a grant-funded project through Jump ARCHES, a research collaborative that partners teams of clinicians and engineers working together to improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs. The FlightPath app is being tested at Illinois State, Illinois Wesleyan and Bradley Universities as part of a clinical trial and research coalition. Hibbert used the FlightPath app after receiving instructions from her athletic trainer six days after she received a blow to the head during a game.

Hibbert was able to finish the test. It only takes about two minutes to collect more than a million data points as a person tries to catch a hummingbird within a 3D space on a screen.

“After a while it did bring a little confusion or if I wasn’t aware of where the bird flew on or off the screen, that did trick a little bit of my memory and concentration skills, so I do think it’s definitely approachable," Hibbert explains. “It’s definitely doable. I think just based on your outcome will determine where you are in your concussion level.”

Dr. Cross says the single biggest risk factor for prolonged time to recovery is delayed diagnosis, so FlightPath is his answer with its ability to diagnose a concussion within minutes. His research team has done some internal testing.

“Regarding how well it detects differences in impairments with people – how well they can determine if someone is functioning, acting appropriately, or if there's if there's something else going on. The challenge has been really doing that with individuals that have true concussion,” says Dr. Cross.

Athletes with a suspected concussion are challenged by FlightPath to walk in their environment while trying to keep a hummingbird in a bubble on the screen.

“The players themselves are trying out this app while concussed after having been consented earlier on in the year so that we can get data around how they perform with this app while concussed versus not concussed, and comparing that to the normal, typical present-day evaluation techniques that the trainers perform.”

Dr. Cross stresses, right now, the clinical trial does not involve trainers using the app to help make decisions. He says the research is not that far along and data collection needs to happen first. But, Karan Rai, MD, a sports medicine physician with OSF HealthCare who also serves as the team doctor for ISU Athletics, says eventually, the data from FlightPath could help beyond diagnosis.

“It in turn can help us with making prognoses, coming up with recovery timelines, implementing certain vestibular therapy. Other than diagnostic purposes, we can extrapolate that data to help us come up with a better treatment plan as well.”

Takes the pressure off
Both Hibbert and Dr. Rai are excited to be part of what they consider ground-breaking research that has the potential for helping athletes in the future. Hibbert, who plans to go into medical sales, says it’s helpful to have an objective tool for an evaluation. She thinks it takes the pressure off athletes.

“Because as athletes, we’re always eager to be on the field or play the game and to have that mindset to be better and get back on your feet as quickly as you can. I think this app will allow you to really settle and to really take your time with your symptoms.”

The clinical trial is looking at whether FlightPath can do as good or better as traditional methods in diagnosing a concussion. So far, Dr. Rai says nearly 15 athletes who have suffered a concussion have completed a FlightPath assessment and it’s been performing well.

“Results are early so far but in our sample size we found some associations at least where FlightPath has shown some abnormalities similar to what other examinations have found as well, whether that’s the SCAT test or the ImPACT test.”

There are other concussion applications commercially available, but Dr. Cross suggests none are as robust as FlightPath.

“There aren't any, as far as I've seen, that use this mixed reality approach to gather the kinds of data that we're gathering. This is very rich data in a very short time in our app. One of the things that makes it so unique and sets it apart is that we get so much data about so many different manifestations of concussion in such a short time.”

Testing is expected to take at least two years. After testing, the app will be submitted to the FDA for clinical approval.

Here is a video demonstrating how the app works.

*Dr. Adam Cross also holds these positions:
Assistant Professor, University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Adjunct Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Health Care Engineering Systems Center (HCESC)
Clinical Research Informatician, OSF HealthCare | Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center (JTSEC)

Dr. Adam Cross, ISU soccer player Cyerra Hibbert and Dr. Karan Rai

B-roll of ISU soccer player Cyerra Hibbert on soccer field

B-roll of FlightPath app demonstration

OSF, ISU researchers working to include social factors into patients' health risks

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 09:16:27 -0500

OSF HealthCare is turning to researchers for improved insights as it strives to make sure care teams know patients better to prevent health challenges and to manage their chronic diseases.

A recent Connected Communities Initiative (CCI) grant of up to $75,000 will support research to improve health care outcomes by incorporating social drivers of health (SDoH) data into predictive models. Social drivers of health are non-medical factors that have a big impact on a person’s health and wellness. Those can include a person’s financial constraints, housing, transportation, childcare and access to fresh food, among others.

Those needs can often be revealed by where a person lives. For example, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has tied ZIP codes to data showing a person’s life expectancy by neighborhood.

By integrating SDoH factors with information from traditional patient records, the project seeks to develop more accurate predictive models for 30-day hospital readmission and health care costs. Led by a collaborative team of data science experts and health care professionals, the research involves exploring SDoH data features, enriching already existing predictive models, and fine-tuning them for better accuracy.

Chris Franciskovich, vice president for Advanced Analytics, OSF Innovation, stressed, “The goal is to provide actionable insights and develop advanced predictive models to transform health care decision-making and resource allocation. Ultimately, this initiative should benefit patients, health care providers and insurance providers while contributing to advancements in health care technology and practices.”

Illinois State University co-lead researcher professor Maochao Xu, who directs the master’s program in the Mathematics Department, is excited to bring his expertise in statistical modeling to help patients and health systems. Graduate students will also contribute to the work, something Xu thinks is important as the role of artificial intelligence and predictive modeling will have growing applications in health care.

“We have three faculty members working on this who have great experience and can help students develop expertise in dating mining, statistical analysis and building and optimizing predictive models so they’ll help future generations better take care of patients.”

The CCI program is a partnership between OSF HealthCare and Illinois State University. The funding supports research involving clinicians, engineers and social scientists to rapidly develop technologies and devices that could revolutionize medical training and health care delivery.

New report supports OSF HealthCare strategy of expanding academic partnerships

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:11:09 -0500

The Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC) released a new report showing university campuses in Illinois founded 694 startups over the past five years, contributing 2,093 new jobs to the state. The unique data was released at Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center in Peoria, Illinois through ISTC’s Illinois Innovation Index on University Entrepreneurship. The report focuses on new business creation in the state through university assistance and affiliation.

The Index also found that of the active university-supported startups founded over the last five years, 82% (359) remained in Illinois. John Vozenilek, MD, vice president and chief medical officer, OSF Innovation and Digital Health says the report is impressive in showing how universities, which are anchor institutions in their communities, are economic drivers.

OSF HealthCare has 15 hospitals that also serve as anchor institutions in Illinois and Michigan. To accelerate innovation, OSF partners with five higher education institutions throughout the state. Dr. Vozenilek says leveraging their expertise in emerging technologies will advance new transformative ideas for health care coming from students as well as from OSF Mission Partners (employees).

Vozenilek was the keynote speaker at the event that highlighted the Illinois Innovation Index report findings. It also brought together key university, community and state economic development leaders to discuss the findings. Vozenilek stresses that new technology, such as virtual and augmented reality, as well as the Metaverse, will allow entrepreneurs to more easily scale educational simulations and training for new innovations, including new medical devices.

According to the ISTC report, women-founded companies increased their share of the startup population, from 28% in the 2018 Index to 40% in 2023. Vozenilek finds those results especially encouraging.

“I love to see the growth of women-owned businesses so the idea there are support structures and dedicated efforts to bring more diversity to our field, I think is incredibly important. We’ll see all kinds of new businesses coming from these constituencies.”

Foreign-born founder percentages increased from 35% in 2020’s Innovation Index to 48% this year according to the coalition. As Vozenilek sees it, that could help OSF HealthCare ensure it is tapping into global expertise.

“I was also intrigued by the state’s interest in foreign born entrepreneurs to give them visas so that some of their ideas take hold in our communities; so think about how we can really draw from the world community (experts) to address challenges here in Central Illinois.”

The Illinois Science & Technology Innovation Index also provided evidence that for every dollar spent on a university-backed startup, it resulted in $10 in follow-up venture capital funding, offering more evidence that university supported efforts are a good investment that result in turning successful ideas into promising businesses.

Video clips with Dr. John Vozenilek

Illinois State University Athletics names OSF HealthCare official health care provider

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 16:47:21 -0500

OSF HealthCare has been named the official health care provider for Illinois State University athletics in an exclusive partnership.

As part of the five-year agreement, OSF HealthCare will provide Illinois State University athletes with access to athletic trainers, sports medicine providers, orthopedic surgeons and behavioral health professionals.

“We are excited to continue building our partnership with ISU and proud to be part of the Redbird fan club in an official capacity as the health care provider of Illinois State University Athletics. This new partnership reinforces our dedication to providing high quality health care to the Bloomington-Normal communities and extends that to the ISU athletes,” said Lynn Fulton, president, OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center.

Robert Seidl, MD, will serve as the medical director of the ISU program and will work closely with Karan Rai, MD, a sports medicine physician with OSF HealthCare.

“Continuing to care for Illinois State Redbirds year after year is a passion of mine,” said Dr. Seidl. “I enjoy working with the athletes and supporting their ongoing health and wellness. The partnership with OSF HealthCare is a great addition and will elevate the breadth and depth of services for the student athletes.”

Illinois State University Interim President Dr. Aondover Tarhule is pleased that the partnership with OSF HealthCare continues to grow.

“Illinois State is proud of its student athletes and their remarkable achievements in the classroom and in competition. They put in long hours and great effort to excel in their studies and in their sports,” said Dr. Tarhule. “Supporting our student athletes in their pursuit of excellence is vitally important. This new partnership with OSF ensures that they have a team of dedicated and caring healthcare professionals in their corner as they study, train, and compete.”

OSF Healthcare and ISU both have a long history of being embedded in this area. ISU was founded in 1857, and the sisters of the Order of St. Francis opened what is now OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in 1880. Throughout the years, the two long-standing organizations have worked together for the good of the community. The two organizations in March launched a joint research partnership, the Connected Communities Initiative (CCI) to bring together clinicians, university faculty researchers and students to explore innovative ideas to improve health care with a focus on medical engineering, data science and cybersecurity.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes is the top priority for our department, and our partnership with OSF HealthCare will help us fulfill that mission,” said ISU Interim Director of Athletics Dr. Jeri Beggs. “OSF brings to the table a comprehensive, compassionate approach to physical and mental health care that aligns perfectly with our goals. Also, it’s exciting for our athletics programs to join in on the collaboration of an academic partnership that the University announced with OSF HealthCare earlier this year.”

The athletic partnership launches with the first home football game when the ISU Redbirds take on Dayton on Saturday, September 2.

Video clips with OSF Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Robert Seidl and ISU Interim Athletic Director Jerri Beggs

Researchers developing mixed-reality training to combat opioid overdose deaths

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 11:04:03 -0500

Iowa was the only state where opioid-related deaths did not increase last year. The American Medical Association says more than 105,000 opioid overdose deaths were reported in the United States between December 2021 and December 2022.

Federal health officials blame the steep increase in opioid overdose deaths, in part, to the rapid growth of highly potent and often deadly fentanyl that can be added to look-alike opioid drugs. The surgeon general recommends more individuals, including family, friends and those personally at risk for opioid overdose, keep on hand and know how to use naloxone, a safe antidote to a suspected overdose. When given in time, naloxone can save a life.

Scott Barrows, director of the OSF Innovation Design Lab at Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center, is working on an Illinois Innovation Network-funded education project called Virtual Reality Embedded Naloxone Training (VENT). It includes researchers at Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal and Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale, Illinois. The work centers around developing mixed-use or augmented reality education for an immersive, engaging approach to train people on how to give someone naloxone, often sold as a nasal spray under the name Narcan.

Barrows says the research will make use of cutting-edge technology, which blends the virtual and physical worlds.

“The mixed-reality portion of this being physical and virtual, will combine the actual spray device and a manikin so that people can practice the actual physical spraying with a manikin as well as having this virtual world that is valuable at the same time.”

The opioid epidemic is affecting all demographics, but Barrows points out underserved populations have the least access to resources for prevention, education and treatment. So, the training will be designed with input from a variety of stakeholders.

Keeping it simple and realistic

“It has to be simple. It has to be easy to use. It has to be intuitive, but it also needs to be sensitive to the community experience whether it's rural, urban, suburban, no matter what age, so that's going to be the trick of the design process," Barrows stresses.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration made naloxone nasal spray available over the counter in March. It’s part of a strategy that includes harm reduction through innovation and education.

Joanna Willett, MSN, RN, a certified nurse educator who directs the nursing simulation lab at ISU’s Mennonite College of Nursing, believes research and development of innovative training can result in education that an average citizen, using a virtual reality headset, could use fairly easily.

“I've seen dozens of adults of all ages, parents, grandparents, sim lab visitors, etc. navigate our current nursing VR software without issue, and without nurses’ training, take lifesaving steps to save a patient with respiratory distress,” Willett says. “I personally have no doubt that the intended audience of non-medical adults of all ages will benefit from this experience.”

Virtual reality training has an advantage because it can be easily accessible and repeatable without significant setup or cost. Willett believes once it is developed, the simulation training will be easy to maintain as an educational program. A prototype will be field-tested in community settings and at the Illinois State University simulation lab using 15 average citizens and five experts with diverse backgrounds.

Roy Magnuson, an assistant professor of Creative Technologies at ISU, will work with graduate students to design a prototype and make adjustments based on feedback. Magnuson has already developed music composition and conducting software for virtual reality. He’ll work with graduate students to create an immersive world, swapping out medical variables for ones he’s used for his other software development.

Magnuson is thrilled to take on the challenge.

Barrows believes the more immersive training will help people recall important best practices while in a high-stress, opioid overdose situation in real life.

“Providing as realistic a situation as possible, we think is more effective than certainly a classroom situation or watching a video or something that doesn’t really provide that as-close-to-reality experience that we think we’re doing.”

The second phase of research would seek additional funding to conduct a randomized, controlled trial to determine if VENT is more effective than traditional education approaches, in addition to examining whether the training is easier to use and accessible to the target audience.

But during the initial development phase, Wasantha Jayawardene, MD, PhD, will tap resources at the Social Perception Lab at SIU to assess the degree to which an individual’s subconscious bias against people with drug addiction influences how they would respond when someone suffers an overdose. Individuals trying the new education prototype will be given an evaluation called an Implicit Association Test (IAT) that can reveal their implicit bias before they test-drive the VENT prototype.

According to Jayawardene, “Based on the IAT results, the VENT will include a model that addresses implicit bias, which can help the layperson responders to become more conscious of their own biases and their potential impact on helping a victim in a real-life scenario.”

There is $54 billion available in lawsuit settlement money tied to companies for their role in fueling the opioid crisis through actions such as downplaying the risks of prescription opioids and promoting the use of the drugs. States are required to spend 85% of settlement funds on opioid remediation and Barrows hopes to explore the potential of tapping that source in the future to make training available using VENT.

Video Interview Clips, Scott Barrows

OSF HealthCare and Illinois State launch Connected Communities Initiative

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:42:54 -0500

A newly formalized partnership between Illinois State University and OSF HealthCare will foster research, innovation, and economic development across Illinois. The Connected Communities Initiative (CCI) program will bring together clinicians, university faculty researchers, and students to focus on innovation in clinical and patient education, health care engineering, data science, and cybersecurity.

The program is a formalization of the partnership between these two anchor institutions in Bloomington-Normal and the broader OSF HealthCare system. Illinois State and OSF HealthCare are lead hub members of the Illinois Innovation Network (IIN). The collaborative work in the Connected Communities Initiative has the potential to generate intellectual property that the two institutions can share and advance the IIN mission of driving inclusive and integrated research, innovation, and economic development across the state.

The agreement also provides a financial foundation for the work with both organizations providing $500,000 each, to contribute a total of $1 million annually for research and development of strategic solutions to improve health care delivery, and patient and provider experience.

“We believe expanding academic collaborations can help us create innovative solutions and new care models that provide more access, particularly to underserved populations,” said CEO of OSF HealthCare Bob Sehring.

“Working with OSF HealthCare on the CCI Program reflects Illinois State’s core values of Collaboration, Learning and Scholarship, and Civic Engagement,” said Illinois State Interim President Aondover Tarhule. “This partnership will provide many opportunities for Illinois State faculty and students to work with our partners at OSF on a wide range of innovative projects that address real-world needs. This is truly an exciting project that will have wide-ranging benefits for all involved.”

The partnership will initially build on Illinois State’s expertise in education, health, cybersecurity, biomedical science, visualization, and process improvement. There will be opportunities for Illinois State’s academic colleges to collaborate on projects with OSF Healthcare. The broad range of faculty expertise and the engagement from the student body will lead to exciting new solutions to complex problems facing society.

“There is a long tradition of partnership between OSF and Illinois State, perhaps most clearly with students in clinical placements and in clinical situations,” said Craig C. McLauchlan, PhD, Illinois State’s associate vice president for Research and Graduate Studies. “The CCI expands that relationship in the area of research and provides an institutional framework that will allow us to build on already existing collaborations more easily. The partnership will provide students and persons in our community opportunities to contribute to innovation and growth that will benefit many.”

OSF Healthcare and Illinois State University have a tradition of collaboration on research, including a recent project to improve low childhood vaccination rates.

Joint projects can include testing solutions in clinical spaces, such as OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center and medical offices. The efforts will take place both virtually and in-person in a variety of settings including ISU labs and computer centers, along with Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center in Peoria, a world-class building with labs focused on advanced imaging and modeling, blockchain, children’s innovation, genomics and precision medicine, interprofessional education, neuro health, and STEAM.

“For OSF HealthCare, the expanded partnership will support the needs of researchers, medical educators, clinicians and most importantly, patients,” added John Vozenilek, MD, vice president and chief medical officer, OSF Innovation and Digital Health. “The brightest minds at Illinois State University can help us develop novel solutions with enhanced security and business processes to improve patient care and health outcomes, along with optimizing the use of resources using data.” Vozenilek adds, “That will become increasingly important as care continues to move from hospital settings to home and as we expand access to patients across all of the regions OSF serves.”

The CCI is built upon successful models that OSF Healthcare has developed and maintains with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois-Chicago, and Bradley University.