Operator Challenge Response

The health and wellbeing of operators on the battlefield is critical to mission success. With that being said, it can be hard to track operators' bioinformatics when preparing for an operation, or even during execution. The Minuteman Battalion Team is proposing a sensor schema that would provide higher echelons of command critical intelligence that would help inform them on issues related to mission readiness, alertness, prediction of mission effectiveness, and possible medical issues within the battlefield and beyond.

Mission readiness and prediction of mission effectiveness is critical for operator teams. Personal biology and readiness are needed for the entire unit and mission to succeed, so finding a way to get more information in relation to the individual operator’s bioinformatics can help act as a predictor of mission success. 

It is important to collect bioinformatics on operators to ensure their readiness and predictive modeling of effectiveness prior to and during operations. This data needs to be collected at both the individual and unit level to ensure readiness. This data can be collected and analyzed over time for predictive modeling.

Hardware proposal:

• A chip that could be inserted (problems: how to charge, constant frequency emission, biological radiation problems depending on materials used, location of insertion, and associated health risks)
• Or a wearable strap (problems: where to wear it, charging, breakable, reliability of data, location on a person)

• Maybe shirts that would be able to send this data? 

Software proposal: 

Possible biometrics:

Blood sugar

Blood pressure

Heart Rate

Blood Oxygen levels 

Blood type (for transfusions)

S100B protein as a well-accepted biomarker for traumatic brain injury

Any way of measuring brain data via brain waves, neurotransmitters, etc. 

So what:

Rhabdomyolysis prediction/prevention

• Levels of calcium, potassium, phosphate, myoglobin, creatine kinase, urate in blood circulation

TBI/Concussion measuring

• Test for S100B protein

“Blacking out” from being underwater, diver schools, figure out when to “go up” / physical vs. mental barrier

• Blood oxygen levels

HCAT and CCAT prediction/prevention

• Core body temperature

Altitude sickness prediction/prevention

• Blood oxygen levels

Overall recovery

• Resting heart rate in the morning

Stress

• Affecting mental and physical performance
• Blood pressure
• Cortisol levels 

Alertness

• Effectiveness or necessity of go-pills
• Heart rate

Nutrition

• Blood sugar (optimize when need to refuel)

Threshold - Amber Green Red Black

Use the collective data to assign a color

Get baselines at TRADOC

Take into account changes in environment

Analyze data at a unit level

Analyze data on an individual level

Using these analyses figure out where to handle the issue - if it can be handled

Connected sets of biometric data that detail the health of one specific soldier will only be seen in such a way by personnel one step of the chain of command higher. Personnel higher than that will be able to see that data as a collection of general unit health under a specific person, but they will not have access to the data of each soldier in that unit individually. 

Being able to get the data on the operators in relation to their health will help provide higher echelons of command with intelligence that can help them decide which teams (or personnel) are best suited to execute the mission on that day, and track their health throughout the operation. For the latter, this could be critical if an injury occurs on the battlefield where team members are not around to assist if the sensor relays that data backup to higher, radio communication can be used to ensure that team members get medical assistance. Beyond that, depending on the type of data sent up, immediate higher order medical assistance such as if a helicopter needed to be sent in for extraction

Challenges include ensuring the data collected is secure and encrypted. If the enemy has access to biometric data of operators on the battlefield, they have the ability to capitalize on exploiting an unready or fatigued unit. Other challenges comprise of identifying the metrics that best reflect the wellbeing of operators from both a mental and physical perspective and determining the most effective way to integrate each metric into a single model (ie. sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, etc). Privacy and ethical concerns may arise from the specific collection of data. If data is collected via chip implant, identifying the best location for it in addition to identifying the health risks associated with insertion is equally important.

We will need a cloud connection computing aspect to ensure data is sent consistently and saved continuously in case the device is crushed or damaged so that the device is still received. 

If the sensor breaks:

Backup battery storage

SoS signal that sends up that there is a problem with the sensor or that it is damaged

Reliability of data/ data acquisition/ validation:

Have operators give the device to team leaders every morning so that the data can be saved and analyzed

Perhaps have them wear these during RASP and beyond to ensure a healthy back catalog of data on that person to monitor their progression 

Could possibly expand this out to a unit level rather than an individual level to tell mission readiness?