 |
Trauma Pod Battlefield Medical Treatment System
DARPA has awarded a $12 million contract to develop an automated medical treatment system that can recieve, assess and stabilize wounded soldiers immediately following injury. The trauma pod is used to treat soldiers on the battlefield using advanced diagnostics and teleoperated instruments.
In the first step, the wounded soldier is loaded into the trauma-pod by fully automated machinery.
(Robotic 'stretcher' (left) brings soldier to pod)
Next, the soldier is given oxygen and is fully scanned, head to toe, with the information processed and ready for remotely-located surgeons to begin the work of triage and treatment.
(Automated full body scan)
Then, surgeons located safely off the battlefield use teleoperated instruments to perform necessary procedures to stabilize the patient. The trauma pod would also be equipped with gauze, medications and other necessary items.
(Telesurgery to remove bullets in left leg)
Finally, the pod is extruded out the top of the unit, where it is picked up by an evac helicopter, so the soldier can be taken to a field hospital for futher treatment.
(Didn't I see this VTOL craft in The Terminator?)
Science fiction writer Frank Herbert wrote about crechepods - fully automated trauma "pods" - in his 1972 novel The Godmakers:
A label on the crechepod identified the disrupted flesh inside as having belonged to an identity called Lewis Orne... The flesh in the pod bore little resemblance to the photo, but even in the flaccid repose of demideath, Orne's unguent-smeared body radiated a bizarre aura...."Why'd you bother with the pod?" a medic asked. "This patient's vital tone is too low to permit operative replacement of damaged organs due to the energy drain of regrowth." (read more about crechepods)
Also, take a look at Larry Niven's autodoc from his Known Space novels.
SRI International believes that these treatment systems could be operational on the battlefield in ten to fifteen years. The core for the system will be the da Vinci robotic surgical system. This commercialized technology has about 300 installations around the world.
Read more at 'Trauma Pod' Robot to save soldier's lives on the battlefield and SRI to develop robots for battlefield medical care. See the trauma pod video.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/5/2005)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 4 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'- Philip K. Dick, 1964.
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices used with your smartphone.
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organlegging may not be the growth industry that some fear.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
