(Qur’an 5:32)
A consortium of medical researchers working with the U.S. Army is looking for help in finding technology solutions to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and treat those with the COVID-19 disease.
Army Medical Research and Development Command invited defense firms to submit proposals for a $25 million effort expected to make up to 10 awards to qualified teams to design prototypes of a wearable diagnostic capability for “pre-/very early symptomatic detection of COVID-19 infection.”
Furthermore, the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) suggests the device should be comfortable enough to wear continuously, like a Fitbit device.
Interested firms have until June 1, 2020, to submit their white paper proposals for the project describing their plan to create a working prototype and perform testing to demonstrate its ability to detect signs of current infection from “asymptomatic or symptomatic patients.”
According to the RFP, “Physiologic surveillance for COVID-19 positive individuals that do not yet show clear medical symptoms is an ultimate goal,” which adds that results should be easily saved, shared and interpreted by non-laboratory personnel.
