By Maddi Langweil, USARIEM Public Affairs
Each year, the Federal Laboratory Consortium, or FLC, presents the Excellence in Technology Transfer (T2) award to Federal research teams that bring their lab innovations into the commercial space by partnering with external businesses and universities to advance the society. This year’s Excellence in T2 award was presented to the US Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) Medical Technology Transfer (MTT) team for the Estimated Core Temperature (ECTemp)/Individual Heat Acclimation Training Tool (iHATT) invention.
Almost every Warfighter has a story of witnessing a fellow Soldier, squad member or even themselves showing signs of confusion or instability before collapsing while training in hot and/or humid environments. These symptoms can lead to life-threatening illnesses such as heat stroke or even death, which ECTemp/iHATT aims to reduce and prevent.
The ECTemp/iHATT is a life-saving package designed to analyze the human body’s core temperature and use it to safely guide Soldiers through an individualized acclimatization program to improve their readiness to hot or humid conditions.
On its own, ECTemp is a sensor-based technology developed by Dr. Mark Buller, data scientist for the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division (TMMD) of the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM), which can identify signs of exertional heat stress or illness by predicting the core body temperature of a people from changes in their heartbeat. Its counterpart, iHATT, was developed with Dr. Simon Delves, thermal physiologist at the Royal Navy Institute of Naval Medicine in the United Kingdom, uses data from the algorithm to create personalized exercises and instant feedback from a smartphone app.
“We developed these algorithms to help Warfighters avoid heat illness and reduce their risks while improving their readiness as they go into training,” Buller said.
Launch a new solution
Basic combat training, field training and road marching are routine military physical activities that can be intense and can be hazardous to health. As a result, the US Army Public Health Center (APHC) says there are two to three Soldier deaths and 1,000 Soldiers requiring medical attention each year from life-threatening illnesses.
Various practices such as thermometers, skin sensors, or ingestible pill thermometers can help at-risk Warfighters but can be expensive and difficult to manage. As an alternative to these methods that are just as effective, but less expensive, Buller and Delves have come up with a solution.
It was a final solution that came out of the creation of ECTemp that was conceived during Buller’s time in the Defense Department’s Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Program. While iHATT was first sketched on a plain napkin in the hotel lobby with Delves.
“When we applied Dr. Delves’ expertise in heat acclimation and mine to computational physiology, we tested our invention in the jungles of northern Borneo with a jungle instructor from the UK Jungle Warfare Division in 2017,” said Buller.
The two inventors launched their device for further testing, mainly by the US Army and the UK Ministry of Defence. It immediately caught the attention of the Royal Netherlands Army, which led to a licensing agreement between USAMRDC MTT and the Netherlands in 2021. The software was issued to 1,500 Garmin smartwatches for military use.
“These wearable solutions are a product of the unique combination of both quantitative and physiology expertise to improve the sensitivity and specificity of the devices overtime,” said Nisha Charkoudian, Division Chief for TMMD. “It’s important not just to have a device but to really understand the physiological basis for that device or functionality.”
The device is available in two languages: Dutch and English and is approved for use in three countries: US, UK and Netherlands. The wearable aims to be a factor in reducing and preventing risks and injuries to the Warfighter from hot and humid conditions.
While the Dutch are the first to use the innovation on a mass scale, ECTemp/iHATT will soon be available for public purchase in the future.
Development of physiology and technological innovations
With the unique opportunity to provide individuals with instant and personalized feedback on any device, ECTemp/iHATT has evolved into a licensed technology beyond their collaboration in the Netherlands.
To accelerate these commercialization efforts, Ellen Fletcher-Goetz, USARIEM Office of Research & Technology Applications, worked quickly with a large team across the Atlantic in the UK, USAMRDC, USARIEM, and led a team of two to obtain a utility patent for the technology. .
“We are a team of scientists and a team of technology transfer professionals who use cross-border collaboration and creative thinking to manage intellectual property owned individually and collaboratively,” said Fletcher. -Goez. “We create international employment agreements, joint intellectual property agreements and issue third-country licenses.”
What started as a seed of curiosity, ECTemp/iHATT has grown and reached new heights after going through licensing efforts, customs agreements and the US Patent and Trade Office to go commercial. space.
Recently, these efforts were recognized with the FLC Technology Transfer Award for 2023. The USAMRDC MTT, which includes USARIEM, is one of four DOD research institutions to receive this prestigious award.
“A lot of the physiology that we deal with in relation to wearables is connected to where USARIEM has a lot of subject matter experts in this area,” Charkoudian said. “It helps the whole program to bring together these different ideas.”
After an exciting and smooth process, Buller said he felt honored to receive the T2 award and it was supported by a great team behind the scenes. Dr. Paul Michaels, Director of the USAMRDC MTT, said that “this is one of the best examples of collaboration between multiple organizations that I have seen during my tenure as Director of Medical Technology Transfer.
With plans to continue and develop new collaborations, Buller and Delves are working on further changes to the life-saving package. This joint invention will be an application that measures personal risk scores for heat injury that will continue the mission of reducing and preventing injuries and deaths caused by heat and/or humid environments.
“Overall, ECTemp/iHATT is the initial foundation and scientific basis for health-based algorithms,” Buller said.
USARIEM is a subordinate command of the US Army Medical Research and Development Command under the Army Futures Command. USARIEM is recognized worldwide as DOD’s premier laboratory for Warfighter health and performance research and focuses on environmental medicine, physiology, physical and cognitive performance, and nutrition research. Located at the Natick Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts, USARIEM’s mission is to optimize Warfighter health and performance through biomedical research.
Date of Acquisition: | 04.14.2023 |
Date Posted: | 04.14.2023 14:08 |
Story ID: | 442656 |
Location: | NATICK, MA, US |
Web Views: | 14 |
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