The Army is buying a device that can quickly assess traumatic brain injury on the battlefield
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-army/2017/10/29/the-army-is-buying-a-device-that-can-quickly-assess-traumatic-brain-injury-on-the-battlefield/
The Army is buying a device that can quickly assess traumatic brain injury on the battlefield
By: Kathleen Curthoys 20 hours ago
The Army has awarded a contract for development of a device to quickly determine if a person has a brain injury and how severe it is. The portable device would be used on the battlefield to assess combat-related traumatic brain injury at the point of injury.
The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command awarded the nearly $10 million contract to Neural Analytics, Inc., which develops medical devices to measure, diagnose and monitor brain health and neural disorders, according to information from the company. Neural Analytics will work with the Defense Department to develop the Lucid System, designed to measure and monitor physical signs of TBI. The company wants to give troops a capability that any of them can use when immediate action may mean saving a life.
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The idea is that any troop could use the device with about a half hour of training. The software will do much of the thinking for the troops, who will likely be dealing with several things happening at once. The goal is not to give the combat medic more data, Petrossian said, but to have the software do an assessment of a persons brain condition and tell the medic, or anyone using the device, how severe it is so they can act faster for the right treatment.
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The $9,990,947 contract for the project was awarded at a firm fixed price, according to DoD documents. The development is expected to take place within the next 18 months. The estimated completion date for the work is March 2019, according to DoD documents. It will probably be about two years before the device is approved by the Army and the FDA, and ready for manufacturing, procurement and ultimately deployment, Petrossian said.
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