Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a prototype for software that could help the early detection and treatment of traumatic brain injuries among U.S. service members.
The software is designed to integrate in real time data provided by medics on the battlefield with information from the patient’s electronic medical record, filter them through a template, and present a visualization over a network to a physician in a remote location who could then diagnose TBI and direct treatment.
“A soldier may be injured somewhere in Iraq and is being transferred by helicopter to a military hospital,” said Jai Rampersad, an airline pilot and entrepreneur who is working with the researchers. “Before the patient arrives, a physician at the hospital can pull up the information and determine whether the patient needs treatment for TBI.”
The primary real-time data required by the template includes heart rate, respiration rate and blood pressure, said Dr. Jim Fackler, associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Data from the patient’s electronic medical record to be integrated into the visualization could include a history previous concussive events as well as medications and allergies.
“The result is to virtually transfer the physician to the battlefield,” said Rampersad. “The physician can triage and assess the situation before the patient is even removed. This tool also allows one physician to monitor a large number of people at the same time and to better triage the wounded.”
“Traumatic brain injury needs to be treated as soon as possible,” Fackler added.
“My sense is that getting the information not a problem," said Dr. Myron Yaster, an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and a member of the group. "The problem is information overload. The idea behind this tool is for a physician to see who is in trouble and who isn’t with a quick look at the screen.”
