ARETE ASSOCIATES — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: A18-065

Description

Areté Associates’ Patient Handling via Audio, Recording, and Observation System (PHAROS) is the monitoring subsystem for a future, ruggedized, low-SWaP autonomous casualty care system capable of operating in real-time in a forward operating environment. Medics are trained to use communication and observation to gauge a patient’s status within the first few seconds of interaction as well as during ongoing monitoring. A good medic can make a priority decision – within seconds – using only their eyes and ears. Our system aims to translate medic audio and visual perception to an automated patient monitoring system by continuously monitoring casualties through wound detection, remote vitals measurement, and evaluation of patient responsiveness and awareness. The insights gained from monitoring will be rendered in a knowledge base which will be accessible to medics or diagnostics and intervention subsystems. In Phase I, Areté developed and demonstrated a proof-of-concept monitoring system using COTS hardware with computer-vision, deep learning, and natural language processing (NLP) algorithms. In Phase II, Areté will enhance and refine these algorithms to produce a robust set of core capabilities on an embedded platform. By the end of Phase II, the prototype TRL 3 system will demonstrate real-time patient monitoring in field environments.