Business Opportunities
Radiation Biodosimetry Assessment Tool (BAT) Decision Support Software for Emergency Responders
The Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) invites interest from developers and producers of decision support systems capable of using or incorporating the Radiation Biodosimetry Assessment Tool (BAT) program, public domain data and software developed by the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI), in limited support (no funding) for commercial development of systems for use by military, federal, state, and local first responders to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction and all manner of disasters, whether natural or man-made, involving a radiation threat.
The BAT program provides diagnostic information (clinical signs and symptoms, physical dosimetry, etc.) relevant to the management of human radiation casualties. Designed primarily for prompt use after a radiation incident, the program facilitates the collection, integration, and archiving of data obtained from exposed persons. Data collected in templates is compared with established radiation dose responses, obtained from the literature, to provide multi-parameter dose assessments. The program archives clinical information (extent of radioactive contamination, wounds, infection, etc.) useful for casualty management, displays relevant diagnostic information in a concise format, and can be used to manage both military and civilian radiation accidents. An integrated, interactive human body map permits convenient documentation of the location of a personnel dosimeter, radiation-induced erythema, and radioactivity detected by an appropriate radiation detection device. In addition, the program archives collected information for later use in radiation protection matters. The executable code and supporting graphics files fit on a single CD-ROM and require standard 32-bit Windows operating systems.
TSWG is funding the conversion of the BAT program to be compatible with a number of handheld systems—Windows OS, Palm OS, and MS Windows CE (or Windows for Pocket PC)—to make the BAT program more accessible and operationally suitable to emergency response units. Converted software will be available incrementally over the next 12 months depending on application and operating system.
Developers or producers of decision support systems or software incorporating the BAT program may, at their option and subject to availability of resources at AFFRI, enter into No Cost Demonstration Agreements with AFFRI to facilitate review and beta testing of their systems for military and other applications as well as the development of improved versions of the BAT program for follow-on release. Any company interested in utilizing the BAT program may respond to this solicitation by sending e-mail to the following address: TechTrans@tswg.gov. The e-mail should contain contact person's name, company, address, telephone number, and information on the decision support system for which they are requesting use of the software.
The Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) is the U.S. Government's national forum that identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates interagency and international research and development (R&D) requirements for combating terrorism.