Phillips Healthcare agrees deal with US Air Force for BATDOK system

The Netherlands-based company, Phillips Healthcare, has agreed a deal with the US Air Force Research Laboratory for its Battlefield Airmen Trauma Distributed Observation Kit system (BATDOK), mobi health news reports.

The deal, which has been agreed for an undisclosed fee, will see the two companies enter into a non-exclusive patent licensing agreement.

In a statement, Joan Wu-Singel, senior technology manager at TechLink, said: “Many of the [Department of Defence's] medical inventions have potential dual-use civilian applications.”

“In this case, BATDOK could be used in a hospital setting, ambulances, and we're even imagining it help address opioid abuse through dosage monitoring.”

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It has been revealed that the technology will have the capabilities to monitor a patient’s vital signs through wearable sensors, as well as being utilised in the field so that clinician can look after a number of different military personnel at the same time through a tablet or smartphone.

Having been developed by engineers at the 711th Human Performance Wing at Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Dr Jim Kearns, technology transfer and domestic alliance manager at the wing, believes the military’s unclassified research and expertise could benefit the public and private sector.

Mr Kearns said in a statement: “We're confident Philips will deliver products with multiple levels of benefit.”

“The Wing has brilliant people doing cutting-edge research. Collaboration with businesses, case in point, enhances their work and gets it to the warfighter.”