Army to Work With UC Irvine on ML-Enabled Burn Wound Treatment Device

The Department of Defense has awarded Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic at the University of California Irvine a contract to use machine learning to allow anyone to treat burn wounds on the battlefield.

According to the terms of a sole-source contract, the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research will use ML algorithms to check the severity of burn wounds and will use spatial frequency domain imaging and laser speckle imaging systems to get a clearer image of bodily damage.

The end product is expected to be a portable device that can create a 3D image of flesh wounds. The goal of the research contract is to allow anybody, even those without medical expertise or experience, to treat soldiers on the battlefield, Nextgov reported Monday.

The program is slated to last for two years. For the first year, the device should capture an image of the wound and measure biological components such as trapped fluids, oxygen saturation and hemoglobin.

The information will be used to construct a wound severity map. Eventually, the device should be able to accept ML algorithms to produce burn depth and wound surface area figures. It should also notify users whenever a wound reaches a threshold figure that would require personnel to call for medical evacuation.

The tool is expected to be a compact no-contact device.