Not 3 weeks ago I presented a new tool for soldiers to display health injuries. These days another technology with the same purpose made it to the public - the wearable ultrasound technology.

This technology can bring advanced medical diagnostic techniques out of the hospital and onto a battlefield or disaster site.

The battery-powered system has been field-tested and approved by the Army, and WPI researchers hope it will soon diagnose soldiers' injuries in the Iraq war. The batteries may last for a day.

The entire system is nestled inside a light brown, modified photographer's vest connected to a video headset. The vest contains a Food and Drug Administration-approved Terason 2000 portable ultrasound scanner made by Teratech Corp. of Burlington, lithium-ion batteries, a microphone and small wireless-Internet computer.

The system is controlled by a directional microphone using 128 voice commands. To cut down on audio interference in noisy environments, the microphone is activated by pushing a button on the probe. Voice-recognition software automatically filters out the background noise and does not need to be calibrated to a specific voice.

The computer is slightly smaller than a hardcover book and rests in the small of the back.

Looks like the developers are not very common with computer technologies, cause they run the system on Windows and get this:
As the headset and computer boots up, the Microsoft Windows icon flashes. "We had a few bugs with Windows," said Mr. Cordeiro. "

A Windows error message might be slightly different from what soldier in the field expect from a health system... ;-)

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News

Picture: From left, WPI graduate student Philip J. Cordeiro, associate professor R. James Duckworth and professor Peder C. Pedersen gather as Mr. Cordeiro models a lightweight ultrasound imaging system geared to battlefield use. (T&G Staff / Betty JENEWIN)