DHHS contracts SpectralMD for development of portable burn analysis device

SpectralMD, Inc. recently received a 2-year, $27.3 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office (DHHS) of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to create a burn imaging device that is portable and quick.

“We want to give medical providers as many modern tools as we can to help them save lives in disasters,” Rick Bright, director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), said. “An emergency situation with many burn casualties could overwhelm surgical facilities and specialized burn care providers. They need fast, accurate assessments of burn injuries to provide effective medical treatment and to guide appropriate use of limited burn care resources immediately.”

BARDA has long supported such medical projects with regards to radiological or nuclear emergencies. Current wound imaging technologies, they say, are not only cumbersome but actively non-user-friendly. This latest advance is being called DeepView, and if all goes well, it should be able to quickly and accurately inform healthcare providers whether surgery is necessary or wounds involving burns will heal with other, non-surgical treatments. It will also help make up for the gap in experienced burn surgeons in the U.S. that would be available during a large-scale disaster.

DeepView has already had its potential shown off at a single burn center, demonstrating that its artificial intelligence algorithms could detect burn depth at least as accurately as experienced burn surgeons. Beyond burn depth, it also analyzes tissue damage severity and other physiological information.

Now, SpectralMD will conduct additional clinical trials at five burn centers. Their contract could, if successful, be extended up to four years and increased to a total of $91.1 million.