By Ann Roosevelt
BAE Systems and Allen-Vanguard Inc., have each received initial Army orders of $17 million for Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Systems (HEADS) to help address combat-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
The July 30 contract awards from the Army Research Development and Engineering Command, Natick, Mass., are firm-fixed price contracts for the Generation II sensors.
BAE will perform the work in Phoenix, Ariz., and Allen-Vanguard in Ogdensburg, N.Y. Both contracts are estimated to be completed by June 15, 2015.
Designed to better monitor soldiers and help identify their risk levels for combat-related TBIs, BAE introduced its first HEADS sensor to the military in 2008. Since then, nearly 7,000 of the company’s HEADS units have been fielded to the Army and Marines.
The Generation II HEADS helmet sensors will be produced and fitted inside the combat helmets for U.S. troops serving abroad.
Joe Coltman, vice president of BAE’s Personnel Protection Systems business, said: “Diagnosing mild to moderate combat-related TBIs can be challenging. For example, following an explosion from a roadside bomb, soldiers will sometimes continue with their mission, unaware that the concussion from the blast may have lingering effects. With the Generation II HEADS sensor, even if the injury isn’t obvious, once the sensor collects data indicating a blast has exceeded a certain threshold, a LED light located on the sensor and will be activated and begin blinking, signifying to soldiers that they may have sustained a concussion warranting immediate attention.”
In addition to alerting soldiers of possible concussions, the HEADS smart sensor is designed to provide medical professionals with important data that may help determine the severity of a possible TBI.
“With our Generation II HEADS sensor, we’re providing medical teams with a valuable diagnostic tool that utilizes radio frequency technology,” Coltman said. “With our new ‘smarter’ sensor, if a soldier is exposed to a blast, possibly sustaining a concussion, not only will the HEADS visual display be triggered at the time of the event, but once the soldier enters a specified area, such as forward operating base or dining facility, a series of strategically placed antennae will scan all available HEADS units and send data to a computer, identifying any soldiers who may have sustained a blast-related brain injury.”
The BAE sensor, about the size of your palm, is lightweight and can be secured inside almost any combat helmet while the wearer does not notice it. It will not interfere with additional helmet-mounted equipment soldiers may need, such as goggles and other sensors.
The BAE sensor is designed to continuously collect critical, potentially lifesaving data, including impact location, magnitude, duration, blast pressures, angular and linear accelerations as well as the exact times of single or multiple blast events.
The information is then securely stored until it can be quickly downloaded and analyzed by medical teams using a simple USB or wireless connection, BAE said in a statement.