Handheld health
A Dstl-developed palmtop health monitoring kit that can pinpoint illness
in real time could help save lives.
Dstl tested PRISM – the Prototype Remote Illness and Symptom
Monitor – during Exercise Saif Sareea in Oman and it coped with
battlefield condition tests.
Medical personnel from all three UK armed forces were issued PRISM
units and most were successfully inputting signs and symptoms of individuals
after just half a day’s training.
As PRISM comes with a global positioning system receiver and satellite
phone the volunteers could also send important information about the
medical status, time and location of an incident to remote central analysis
computers in Oman and at Dstl Porton Down.
Incoming data can then be compared with pre-existing data sets to identify
early indications of disease. Significant changes from the norm automatically
trigger the software’s alarm to medical personnel.
Although military use and funding drove the research, PRISM has potential
for use in civilian hospitals and GP surgeries and by public health
services to help accurately identify the spread of an infection prior
to epidemic status.
It has an advantage over current systems because it helps pinpoint
the location of diseases more accurately and allows more frequent collection
of data.
Commenting on PRISM’s battlefield testing in Oman, Richard Scott,
director of Dstl’s chemical and biological arm says: “We
demonstrated the simplicity of use and that real time medical surveillance
can be carried out. A system such as PRISM could become an essential
piece of equipment for the armed forces and also have wider applications
elsewhere.”
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