The Army is looking for industry partners to license and commercialize the advanced point-of-care Battlefield Medical Information System-Tactical (BMIST). The system developed by the Army’s Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) was initially developed for use by Special Forces medics and other first responders.
BMIST operates on commercially available computer and communication hardware such as Pocket PCs with Wi-Fi wireless connectivity and has been deployed within the U.S. government within the U.S. Special Operations Command and the White House Medical Unit.
BMIST provides a point-of-care handheld device that enables healthcare providers, to record, store, retrieve, and transmit the elements of clinical encounters in an operational setting. The system also provides comprehensive point-of-care reference materials and diagnostic and treatment aids. Plus the system directly interfaces with handheld PC based medical instruments like a pulse oximeter for integrated patient diagnosis, monitoring, and record keeping. Further development could enable BMIST to incorporate advanced healthcare management applications including automated prescription drug management and automated patient billing.
BMIST is protected by a patent application. The Army will convey as part of a patent license agreement, commercial rights to the invention, as well as the source code. Collaborative R&D is a possibility.
For more information, email Sean Pattern at spatten@montana.edu or Kurt Rued at krued@montana.edu.
In another opportunity, the Army seeks to commercialize through patent licensing a web-based system to be used to electronically store and disseminate dental records and images between generalists and specialists to diagnose or determine a treatment plan.
TATRC developed the web-based communication technology to collect and disseminate data relating to a patient or a patient’s condition. The system includes a storage capability that enables the data to be accessed or amended at any time.
The system can create and transfer dental records including images, diagnosis and treatment records, and communications between referring providers and specialists. A series of prompts and drop-down menus ensure that the appropriate data is input by referring and consulting dentists. An image manipulation routine allows the consulting dentist to zoom in and out, invert, rotate, flip, and change the contrast and the brightness of images.
The patent “Teledentistry Consult Management System and Method” has been filed by the Army with the software code available for commercial licensing. For further information, email Kurt Rued at krued@montana.edu or Dan Swanson at dss@montana.edu.
