Commercial off-the-shelf biosensors can be used to monitor warfighters. There is scientific evidence that sensor data can be used to identify physical performance and casualty or injury status. However, solutions and algorithms are mostly in research stages and there is a lack of frameworks that can aggregate this wealth of information into a single stream of actionable information that can be interpreted at a glance during high-stress situations.
To address this need, we developed ExoSense, an open, extensible software architecture for fusing diverse biosensor data to generate a comprehensive user health status assessment. Using a mobile device, leaders in the field can know warfighter location and movement with actionable insights on physiological stress level and casualty risk. ExoSense runs on an Android device as a plugin for Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK). The software is sensor agnostic with the prototype set to automatically scan for skin temperature, pulse oximeter, heart rate, and inertial measurement sensors. Biomechanics algorithms have been incorporated to identify increased risk of musculoskeletal injury, acute musculoskeletal injury, and potential traumatic brain injury. Physiological predictive capability was integrated using the open-source BioGears engine. BioGears runs faster than real-time on mobile devices, enabling prediction of future physiological status that could require medical care from exertion, temperature stress or altitude. ExoSense provides leaders in the field with an unprecedented view into the status of their team. It allows leaders to glance at a mobile device and quickly understand not only the location and movement of each team member, but also the level of physiological stress they are experiencing.
This material is based upon work supported by the; Army Futures Command (AFC), Army Application Lab (AAL) under Contract W911NF-22-C-0011. 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 AFC, AAL.
Keywords
SIMULATIONS
Additional Keywords
sensors, actionable insights, Android Tactical Awareness Kit (ATAK), injury prevention