Continuous Thermal Strain Monitoring and Prevention

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) needs a non-invasive real time physiological status monitor that can accurately control an Army microclimate cooling system to improve wearer thermoregulation, mitigate thermal stress injuries, and increase mission performance and system efficiency. Vivonics, Inc., a small business with significant expertise in the development of novel wearable physiological monitoring technologies designed to perform in austere environments, proposes to leverage an existing Vivonics optical-based system that can non-invasively and precisely measure hemodynamics, vasoconstriction, and vasodilation, in order to assess cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC). CVC assessment has important applications in the military, especially for assessing and managing heat stress in warfighters in an individualized manner and will be used here to control the cooling vest effectively and efficiently. We call the system CTS-MAP (Continuous Thermal Strain Monitoring and Prevention). The CTS-MAP system will rely on accurate measurement of heat stress and thermal strain using individually calibrated, objective biomarkers, which will be used to trigger the cooling vest on and off in real time, thus minimizing power consumption and reducing wearersÆ cognitive load. Vivonics is collaborating with pioneers in the field of thermal and vascular physiology, who will provide unparalleled expertise in the detection of heat strain and its physiological and vascular indicators. This unparalleled team, supported by Lockheed Martin, is well positioned to fully address the needs expressed by the DTRA by customizing Vivonics sensors and leveraging a functional algorithm previously developed for hemodynamics and related parameters assessment. The combination of our innovative algorithms, ease-to-use, low profile, comfortable, and wearable sensors, and extended battery life will provide an objective evaluation method to detect heat strain early in real time (within 10-20 seconds), thus improving warfighter overall performance, resilience, and operational effectiveness. The proposed CTS-MAP system will also enhance performance optimization by better understanding the effects of training regimens under extreme conditions and enabling informed decisions at every command level by providing automated methods of information gathering.