Charles River Analytics Inc., developer of intelligent systems solutions, has announced a contract to build a system for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Vestibular Indicators of Soldier Operational Readiness, following an event that may have led to a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The 24-month, follow on contract for ADVISOR, awarded by the US Army, is valued close to $1 million.
“Soldiers require accurate, timely, in-theater assessment of vestibular symptoms following potentially concussive events to maximize their ability to function and survive,” said Dr. Michael Jenkins, Senior Scientist at Charles River and Principal Investigator on the ADVISOR effort. “These assessments are often conducted by first-level responders immediately following the injury, and symptoms of vestibular dysfunction in particular are often missed or misdiagnosed due to a lack of familiarity with the subtleties of impaired vestibular function that can accompany concussions or mTBI. We’re designing ADVISOR with human factors principles in mind, providing an effective means to guide non-otolaryngology expert personnel through clinically validated vestibular function assessments that we have ported to a virtual reality environment to support in-theater screening.”
Charles River’s partners on the ADVISOR effort include the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Dr. Thomas von Wiegand of Sensimetrics, and LTC Mark Pires (US Army-ret.).
Charles River recently presented its healthcare support and training capabilities at the I/ITSEC conference, which took place from November 28th through December 3rd. See other examples of these efforts.
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) under Contract No. W81XWH-16-C-0070. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USAMRAA.
