DEVELOPMENT OF A TRUE GENERAL-PURPOSE BIOMEDICAL TELEMETRY SYSTEM

A GENERAL-PURPOSE, MINIATURE, BIOMEDICAL TELEMETRY SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR UNOBTRUSIVELY MONITORING A VARIETY OF PHYSIOLOGICAL VITAL SIGNS FROM A CREW OF INDIVIDUALS FUNCTIONING IN A HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT. THE DESIGN WILL BUILD UPON A CORE TEMPERATURE MONITORING "PILL" AND BIOTELEMETRY TRANSCEIVER DEVELOPED FOR THE ARMY, AS WELL AS UPON A HIGH-SPEED, MULTICHANNEL TELEMETRY SYSTEM. IN ADDITION TO THE INNOVATIVE INTEGRATION OF THESE TWO SYSTEMS,THIS DESIGN WILL SEEK TO IMPLEMENT A NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL INNOVATIVE FEATURES: HARNESSLESS, EXTERNAL BODY-MOUNTED SENSORS THAT, LIKE THE PILL, TELEMETER THEIR OUTPUT TO THE TRANSCEIVER; A MEANS OF TRANSMITTING VOICE ALONG WITH PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNS; A TELEMETRY RECEIVER AND DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEM THAT WILL PLUG DIRECTLY INTO THE BUS OF A PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC); AND PC-BASED ALGORITHMS FOR DISPLAY AND PROCESSING OF THE INCOMING DATA, TO PROVIDE DECISION AIDS TO THE BASE-STATION OPERATION. MODULARITY WILL BE STRESSED THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN, PROVIDING FOR THE INTERCHANGEABILITY OF SENSOR PACKAGES. THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL CONSIST OF A DETAILED DESIGN OF BOTH HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, AS WELL AS BENCH TESTS OF THE FEASIBILITY OF SEVERAL KEY DESIGN FEATURES. A GENERAL-PURPOSE, MINIATURE, BIOMEDICAL TELEMETRY SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR UNOBTRUSIVELY MONITORING A VARIETY OF PHYSIOLOGICAL VITAL SIGNS FROM A CREW OF INDIVIDUALS FUNCTIONING IN A HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT. THE DESIGN WILL BUILD UPON A CORE TEMPERATURE MONITORING "PILL" AND BIOTELEMETRY TRANSCEIVER DEVELOPED FOR THE ARMY, AS WELL AS UPON A HIGH-SPEED, MULTICHANNEL TELEMETRY SYSTEM. IN ADDITION TO THE INNOVATIVE INTEGRATION OF THESE TWO SYSTEMS,THIS DESIGN WILL SEEK TO IMPLEMENT A NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL INNOVATIVE FEATURES: HARNESSLESS, EXTERNAL BODY-MOUNTED SENSORS THAT, LIKE THE PILL, TELEMETER THEIR OUTPUT TO THE TRANSCEIVER; A MEANS OF TRANSMITTING VOICE ALONG WITH PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNS; A TELEMETRY RECEIVER AND DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEM THAT WILL PLUG DIRECTLY INTO THE BUS OF A PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC); AND PC-BASED ALGORITHMS FOR DISPLAY AND PROCESSING OF THE INCOMING DATA, TO PROVIDE DECISION AIDS TO THE BASE-STATION OPERATION. MODULARITY WILL BE STRESSED THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN, PROVIDING FOR THE INTERCHANGEABILITY OF SENSOR PACKAGES. THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL CONSIST OF A DETAILED DESIGN OF BOTH HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, AS WELL AS BENCH TESTS OF THE FEASIBILITY OF SEVERAL KEY DESIGN FEATURES.