Method and appratus for collecting and analyzing surface wound data

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of analyzing damage to personal protective equipment (PPE) uses a processor connected to a memory device. A plurality of location informations are stored in the memory device. Each location information relates to a respective damage sustained by a respective PPE and comprises a size, shape, and location of the respective damage on the respective PPE. The method includes aggregating and analyzing the location informations from a plurality of the plurality of location informations. At least two of said plurality of the plurality of location informations relate to respective damages sustained by different respective personal protective equipment. The analysis may include displaying the damage from a plurality of the location informations as a function of location on a personal protective equipment model. The analysis may involve filtering the information to isolate criteria of interest. The analysis may be used to improve PPE design and/or tactical training.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer implemented method of analyzing damage to personal protective equipment using a processor connected to a memory device, the method comprising:
 storing in the memory device a plurality of location informations, each relating to a respective damage sustained by a respective personal protective equipment and comprising a size, shape, and location of the respective damage on the respective personal protective equipment; and   aggregating and analyzing the location informations from a plurality of the plurality of location informations,   wherein at least two of said plurality of the plurality of location informations relate to respective damages sustained by different respective personal protective equipment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, prior to said aggregating and analyzing, said size, shape, and location of said respective damages of said plurality of said plurality of location informations are quantitatively defined relative to a common reference coordinate system of a personal protective equipment model. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said analyzing comprises displaying onto a display device damage density of the aggregated location informations as a function of location on a 3D computer-generated personal protective equipment model. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the plurality of the plurality of location informations comprise damage severity information; and   the damage density is displayed as a function of damage severity.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 storing in the memory device a plurality of injury informations, each identifying a severity of a respective injury sustained by a human who was using a respective one of the personal protective equipments when the injury was sustained; and   storing in the memory device respective relationships between respective ones of the injury informations and respective ones of the location informations,   wherein said displaying of damage density comprises displaying damage density as a function of the injury severity.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 selecting a subset of the plurality of location informations, the subset being based on at least one selected criterion associated with the location informations,   wherein said aggregating comprises aggregating the location informations of the selected subset, and   wherein said displaying comprises displaying onto the display device damage density of the selected subset as a function of location on the 3D computer-generated personal protective equipment model.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 storing in the memory device a plurality of injury informations, each relating to a respective injury sustained by a human who was using a respective one of the personal protective equipments when the injury was sustained;   storing in the memory respective relationships between respective ones of the injury informations and respective ones of the location informations; and   selecting the subset based on whether the injury information associated with a respective surface wound location information satisfies the at least one selected criterion.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising receiving a user's selection of what at least one criterion to use as the at least one selected criterion. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein:
 said at least one selected criterion comprises a user-specified personal protective equipment region of interest; and   said aggregating comprises aggregating the location informations of damages sustained in the user-specified personal protective equipment region of interest.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one selected criterion comprises: surface wounds occurring before or after selected times or dates; surface wounds occurring during selected time or date ranges; AIS code of injuries or surface wounds; injury or surface wound severity; information associated with injuries that caused the surface wound; injury mechanism; geographic location where surface wound was incurred; surface wound type; location of the surface wound on the subject human; subject human information; an ISS code for the subject human; a presence of personal protective equipment used by the subject human when the surface wound was sustained; or a type of personal protective equipment used by the subject human when the surface wound was sustained. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using the analysis to improve personal protective equipment to better protect areas that the analysis identifies as having a high damage density. 
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented system for analyzing damage to personal protective equipment, the system comprising a processor and a memory device, the processor being configured to:
 store in the memory device a plurality of location informations, each relating to a respective damage sustained by a respective personal protective equipment and comprising a size, shape, and location of the respective damage on the respective personal protective equipment; and   aggregate and analyze the location informations from a plurality of the plurality of location informations,   wherein at least two of said plurality of the plurality of location informations relate to respective damages sustained by different respective personal protective equipments.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein, prior to said aggregating and analyzing, said size, shape, and location of said respective damages of said plurality of said plurality of location informations are quantitatively defined relative to a common reference coordinate system of a personal protective equipment model. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising a display device, wherein the processor is configured to display onto the display device damage density of the aggregated location informations as a function of surface location on a 3D computer-generated personal protective equipment model. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 store in the memory device a plurality of injury informations, each identifying a severity of a respective injury sustained by a human who was using a respective one of the personal protective equipments when the injury was sustained;   store in the memory device respective relationships between respective ones of the injury informations and respective ones of the location informations; and   display on the display device said damage density as a function of the injury severity.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 select a subset of the plurality of location informations, the subset being based on at least one selected criterion associated with the location informations,   aggregate the location informations of the selected subset, and   display onto the display device damage density of the selected subset as a function of location on the 3D computer-generated personal protective equipment model.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 store in the memory device a plurality of injury informations, each relating to a respective injury associated with a respective one of the damages sustained by a respective one of the personal protective equipments;   store in the memory device relationships between respective ones of the injury informations and respective ones of the location informations; and   select the subset based on whether the injury information associated with a respective location information satisfies the at least one selected criterion.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one selected criterion comprises: surface wounds occurring before or after selected times or dates; surface wounds occurring during selected time or date ranges; AIS code of injuries or surface wounds; injury or surface wound severity; information associated with injuries that caused the surface wound; injury mechanism; geographic location where surface wound was incurred; surface wound type; location of the surface wound on the subject human; subject human information; an ISS code for the subject human; a presence of personal protective equipment used by the subject human when the surface wound was sustained; or a type of personal protective equipment used by the subject human when the surface wound was sustained.