Synthesis:
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) paid Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) $2 million dollars and signed an 18 month contract to create a technology called "sensor tape." PARC specializes on "jet-printing" and "polymer devices and circuits." Using the ink-jet 
printing PARC has developed sensors, such as high intensity light sensors to observe the environment during a blast explosion. The sensors are sensitive to light, motion, sound, speed and vibration. This "sensor tape" attached to helmets or clothing will be relatively cheap, so it can be passed out to all soldiers. The "sensor tape" will be small, light weight (6 ounces) patches, which can be worn up to a week on a helmet or uniform.All sensors will be capable of gathering and recording information connected to the blast explosions. When the data is finally retrieved and recorded, then the tape can be disposed of.
The information
gathered after a bomb explosion is collected at National Ground Intelligence Center where the data is studied. Michael Leggieri Jr, coordinator of Blast Injury Research Program said "We know that if you hit your head against something...that you can get a brain injury. But the mechanism, at the cellular level --how does that happen? There are still a lot of unknowns here". This collected information is accessible to professionals through Joint Trauma Analysis and Prevention of Injury in Combat Program. Through the information collected from "sensor tape", Leggier and other researchers can fully understand TBI and to treat TBI patients more properly.
Video
Social and Ethical Issues
printing PARC has developed sensors, such as high intensity light sensors to observe the environment during a blast explosion. The sensors are sensitive to light, motion, sound, speed and vibration. This "sensor tape" attached to helmets or clothing will be relatively cheap, so it can be passed out to all soldiers. The "sensor tape" will be small, light weight (6 ounces) patches, which can be worn up to a week on a helmet or uniform.All sensors will be capable of gathering and recording information connected to the blast explosions. When the data is finally retrieved and recorded, then the tape can be disposed of.
gathered after a bomb explosion is collected at National Ground Intelligence Center where the data is studied. Michael Leggieri Jr, coordinator of Blast Injury Research Program said "We know that if you hit your head against something...that you can get a brain injury. But the mechanism, at the cellular level --how does that happen? There are still a lot of unknowns here". This collected information is accessible to professionals through Joint Trauma Analysis and Prevention of Injury in Combat Program. Through the information collected from "sensor tape", Leggier and other researchers can fully understand TBI and to treat TBI patients more properly. Video
Social and Ethical Issues
Reliability:
This technology will worn by American soldiers all over the world, from Iraq to Afghanistan to other countries. The "sensor tape" needs to be able to operate in all sorts of environment from the extreme cold to the harsh heat. If this product is to be used in rough environments then the tape should be very durable, but in all of the articles that i have read none of the them describe the "sensor tape" as sturdy or strong, therefore i do not believe that it is durable. The tape needs to be durable enough to last through a bomb explosion. If the sensors cannot last through a bomb explosion then "sensor tape" is pointless. It needs to sustain long enough for someone to retrieve the data from the tape.
If the "sensor tape" breaks down or malfunctions, it will most likely be difficult to repair. It probably takes a specialist to fix this. An ordinary person like a soldier probably is not capable of fixing it, unless trained. Also if a soldier does try to fix it, then the data from the tape will become unreliable.
It is possible that the "sensor tape" does not noticeably malfunction and the appearance of it is nothing out the norm then the researchers will think they have accurate data.With the undependable information the TBI researchers will come to the wrong conclusions about the cellular mechanisms in the brain. Therefore treating TBI victims improperly, if treated inaccurately this can cause numerous unexpected problems for the patients. Also if the data is misread or misunderstood because of the human error, doctors and researchers can treat patients wrongly.
Equality of Access:
Because the "sensor tape" is only in development not everybody will able to use it right away. It will take time to construct and perfect the technology. The producers of the "sensor tape" will give it out to few soldiers for a test run, only a minority of soldiers will have access at first. Then with time perhaps the "sensor tape" will be given out to all soldiers in combat. More likely though the sensor patches will be only passed out to the most elite soldiers, or soldiers who are on riskier missions. Every soldier should have the same amount of supplies as the other. Not one soldier is worth more than the other. They all chose to serve their nation, knowing that one day they might risk their life for this nation. Another reason why the government might not distribute the sensors to every military personnel is because they do not want to use their military spending money on this technology. There is a good chance this will be happen because the United States is on the decline, therefore we do not have as much money and we are in debt.. Even though the "sensor tape" will be priced reasonable, other equipment will be higher in priority.
Not every doctor or researcher will have access to information collected from the "sensor tape". The information from the sensors could be to detailed to give to civilians. Only doctors or researchers in the military could have access to the data. The sensors could give out information that the government or military does not want to be seen in the public. The conclusions about TBI will be less detailed because there will be less medical officials or researchers who see the data. The more variety of brains makes better answers.
People and Machines:
The "sensor tape" will do good for all society. With the data collected from the sensors long term and short term affects of TBI will be solved. Soldiers who have been injured during an explosion, will have their memory back and have less headaches. Also people who have had a concussion will be healed better and treated quicker. The "sensor tape" will help many teenagers that have had a concussion, TBI is the number one injury, which can cause there learning capability to decline. It is common for athletes to get concussions also. When an athlete gets a concussion there can be lasting affects from it and they cannot play their support for a certain amount of time. With conclusions from the tape they will have a faster recovery.
Doctors and researchers will also receive more detailed information from the "sensor tape" making their job easier. They do not have to collect unreliable information from soldiers who witnessed or were affected by the explosion. The sensor patch will make the data more accurate, leading to better answers about TBI. The researchers will be more confident in their work, less doubtful and less stressed.
The "sensor tape" does not have to be limited to research for TBI. It could be used in numerous of ways. The possibilities are endless. It could be used in every area of impacts. For example the "sensor tape" could be used on track athletes, in order to find out how their speed changes and how their breathing differs. "Sensor tape" will help to contribute to job opportunities for people. Job opportunities in the medical and military field.
Articles:
Baker, Fred W. "Sensors May Lead to Faster Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injuries." U.S.Army. N.p., 15 Jan. 2008. Web. 9 Feb. 2010..
http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/01/15/7002-sensors-may-lead-to-faster-treatment-for-traumatic-brain-injuries/
Shachtman, Noah. "Brain Blasts Mapped with Stick-On Sensors." Wired 4 June 2008: Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/06/the-pentagon-is/
Weinberger, Sharon. "DARPA’s Stick-On Body Sensors." Wired. 12 June 2007. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
Ricklin, Jennifer. "Sensor Tape Program." Strategic Technology Office. N.p., 20 June 2007. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
"All ink-jet printed polyfluorene photodiode for high illuminance applications ." Palo Alto Research Center. 2010. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
This technology will worn by American soldiers all over the world, from Iraq to Afghanistan to other countries. The "sensor tape" needs to be able to operate in all sorts of environment from the extreme cold to the harsh heat. If this product is to be used in rough environments then the tape should be very durable, but in all of the articles that i have read none of the them describe the "sensor tape" as sturdy or strong, therefore i do not believe that it is durable. The tape needs to be durable enough to last through a bomb explosion. If the sensors cannot last through a bomb explosion then "sensor tape" is pointless. It needs to sustain long enough for someone to retrieve the data from the tape.
If the "sensor tape" breaks down or malfunctions, it will most likely be difficult to repair. It probably takes a specialist to fix this. An ordinary person like a soldier probably is not capable of fixing it, unless trained. Also if a soldier does try to fix it, then the data from the tape will become unreliable.
It is possible that the "sensor tape" does not noticeably malfunction and the appearance of it is nothing out the norm then the researchers will think they have accurate data.With the undependable information the TBI researchers will come to the wrong conclusions about the cellular mechanisms in the brain. Therefore treating TBI victims improperly, if treated inaccurately this can cause numerous unexpected problems for the patients. Also if the data is misread or misunderstood because of the human error, doctors and researchers can treat patients wrongly.
Equality of Access:
Because the "sensor tape" is only in development not everybody will able to use it right away. It will take time to construct and perfect the technology. The producers of the "sensor tape" will give it out to few soldiers for a test run, only a minority of soldiers will have access at first. Then with time perhaps the "sensor tape" will be given out to all soldiers in combat. More likely though the sensor patches will be only passed out to the most elite soldiers, or soldiers who are on riskier missions. Every soldier should have the same amount of supplies as the other. Not one soldier is worth more than the other. They all chose to serve their nation, knowing that one day they might risk their life for this nation. Another reason why the government might not distribute the sensors to every military personnel is because they do not want to use their military spending money on this technology. There is a good chance this will be happen because the United States is on the decline, therefore we do not have as much money and we are in debt.. Even though the "sensor tape" will be priced reasonable, other equipment will be higher in priority.
Not every doctor or researcher will have access to information collected from the "sensor tape". The information from the sensors could be to detailed to give to civilians. Only doctors or researchers in the military could have access to the data. The sensors could give out information that the government or military does not want to be seen in the public. The conclusions about TBI will be less detailed because there will be less medical officials or researchers who see the data. The more variety of brains makes better answers.
People and Machines:
The "sensor tape" will do good for all society. With the data collected from the sensors long term and short term affects of TBI will be solved. Soldiers who have been injured during an explosion, will have their memory back and have less headaches. Also people who have had a concussion will be healed better and treated quicker. The "sensor tape" will help many teenagers that have had a concussion, TBI is the number one injury, which can cause there learning capability to decline. It is common for athletes to get concussions also. When an athlete gets a concussion there can be lasting affects from it and they cannot play their support for a certain amount of time. With conclusions from the tape they will have a faster recovery.
The "sensor tape" does not have to be limited to research for TBI. It could be used in numerous of ways. The possibilities are endless. It could be used in every area of impacts. For example the "sensor tape" could be used on track athletes, in order to find out how their speed changes and how their breathing differs. "Sensor tape" will help to contribute to job opportunities for people. Job opportunities in the medical and military field.
MLA Citations
Articles:
Baker, Fred W. "Sensors May Lead to Faster Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injuries." U.S.Army. N.p., 15 Jan. 2008. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
Shachtman, Noah. "Brain Blasts Mapped with Stick-On Sensors." Wired 4 June 2008: Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/06/the-pentagon-is/
Weinberger, Sharon. "DARPA’s Stick-On Body Sensors." Wired. 12 June 2007. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
Ricklin, Jennifer. "Sensor Tape Program." Strategic Technology Office. N.p., 20 June 2007. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
"All ink-jet printed polyfluorene photodiode for high illuminance applications ." Palo Alto Research Center. 2010. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
This technology sometime in the future seems like it can be really helpful, but it seems to me that the military is not addressing the main problem that they need to which is figuring out how to help people with traumatic brain injuries. I can see how, to a certain extent, knowing the type and force of the injury could help doctors and surgeons deal with and help reverse the effects of TBI on the brain. But that information can only do so much to help injured people with the limited amount of knowledge we have about the human brain. It seems to me that the government should be spending the money on something like brain research that would help surgery and treatments of the injured people. For the SEI’s I thought that they were right on but I would have focused more on security than equality of access because of the problems that the government is having with the veterans. If that information about the head injuries was to be altered or deleted to the wrong people it could prevent many veterans from getting the benefits that they deserve in terms of medical operations and money to live for the rest of their lives. The government is already having enough trouble with veterans and need to take more measures to ensure that they are treated correctly.
ReplyDelete-Alex Wilson
In order to treat the patients the doctors need more knowledge of how the injuries occurs and affects the brain. So through the information collected from the sensor tape, the doctors/scientists from Blast Injury Research Program and Joint Trauma Analysis can create surgeries and treatments that will help TBI patients. So really the government is spending money on brain research.
ReplyDeleteAlso I never thought about security, I didn't even think of the government erasing information so they didn't have to give veterans benefits from the treatment. Thanks!
My guess would be that this trick is being tested in Military before being applied in Food Industry. At the moment, it's quite difficult to keep track of existing nanofood. The corporations understand very well that the unsureness that surround nanoparticles today may frighten consumers. So, they do not communicate clearly about their utilization...But thay can test everything in its beta, or even alpha version in Military. That's just soldiers, not consumers... And this "sensor tape" innovation is just a beginning of the whole story. In My Humle Opinion, of course
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Suel
I don't see many problems with this device other than standard inefficiencies. I don't see how this device could do anything bad to us other than cost extra amounts of money. Its unfortunate that soldiers have to constantly be exposed to various types of explosions, but the thing is that we cant stop nuclear proliferation, and the enemy is always going to be attacking. Its good that we can develop a device to heal them quicker, and find out how to cure some of their injuries quicker than before. Reliability is an issue because we don't want to be spending money on this if it can't with stand an explosion. People and machines is also an issue, but human error can occur with any kind of medical device, so we have to be careful anyways. I think this is a good device that we could use because the device itself can't really do any harm to civilization. Basically Im optimistic that the government is just making a healthy attempt to augment their understanding of health issues such as TBI..etc.
ReplyDelete