DARPA has selected Raytheon BBN to lead the team developing an augmented reality device that can function as a virtual assistant for military doctors, and assist them with 50 medical procedures using theartificial intelligence.
Help in the field
Military doctors are the most crucial figures in improving the chances of survival of a wounded person on the battlefield. This is because they are the first to arrive on scene and provide assistance in the first minutes after an accident, when quick action can mean the difference between life and death before sending an injured person to the rear for full treatment.
The problem is that, although they are highly trained, military doctors are usually not surgeons. They often may not have the experience to quickly handle little-used procedures. For this, DARPA is working on its system called Mmedical Assistance, Guidance, Instruction, and Correction (MAGIC). It is a pair of augmented reality glasses equipped with audio and video sensors that allow an artificial intelligence assistant to monitor the situation and advise the doctor how to proceed.
A team of military doctors in a pair of glasses
Secondo Raytheon, MAGIC would be able to accomplish this difficult task using machine learning. Machine learning would allow the system to learn medical skills and the ability to make assessments based on more than 2.500 stereo videos and nearly 50 million images.
A huge pool of data, which allows the device to learn how to perform medical procedures much like an advanced voice assistant learns to speak or translate into other languages.
MAGIC's ultimate goal? Help military doctors by "projecting" the correct medical procedures to be performed onto the superimposed glasses. In this way, it will be possible to work hands-free with a large amount of data (including data on the vital parameters of the injured person).
“The combat medical environment is challenging and chaotic,” he says Brian Van Voorst, scientist at Raytheon BBN. “Our goal for MAGIC AI is to help support staff provide guidance without breaking their concentration.”
The first demonstration of MAGIC is expected, by contract, within the next 18 months. As always, technology pays its dues to the military sector, but it is clear that a similar device (until yesterday only present in science fiction) could make a huge difference for 'civilian' doctors too.
