AI Powered Burn and Blast Wound Assessment for Combat Casualty Care: Spectral AI Inc.

The Problem

Severe burn and blast wound injuries remain a significant challenge in military medicine, particularly in combat environments where rapid treatment decisions must often be made with limited information and no diagnostic tools. Physicians currently rely on subjective visual assessments to determine burn severity and healing potential, which often leads to suboptimal treatment decisions, longer recovery periods, inaccurate burn evaluations, additional surgeries, and reduced quality of life. These outcomes also further strain existing treatment resources. Inaccurate or delayed treatment decisions can limit or stall a service member's return to duty and may negatively affect long term quality of life.

Project Highlight

Spectral AI has developed the DeepView Snapshot M, a non invasive imaging diagnostic tool powered by artificial intelligence and the world's largest burn biopsy database, providing an objective, immediate assessment of a burn or blast wound's healing potential. The handheld device also features an immediate calculation of total body surface area to support decision making at the point of care. By analyzing tissue at the pixel level using multispectral imaging and artificial intelligence, the DeepView Snapshot M helps physicians make more informed treatment decisions earlier in a patient's care. In addition to receiving a $4.0 million MTEC award, Spectral AI has received over $250.0 million in funding from BARDA for development of its cart based DeepView System, the predicate for the handheld diagnostic tool, which has recently received FDA De Novo classification clearance. Building on advancements from the cart based DeepView System, the company has delivered MTEC a working prototype of the handheld device and continues to advance its design, performance, and capabilities through ongoing research, testing, and refinement.

Impact & the Role of MTEC

This technology has the potential to transform military burn care by enabling faster, more accurate treatment decisions that support recovery, reduce unnecessary procedures, and optimize military resources. Earlier identification of wounds unlikely to heal without intervention can help physicians deliver the right treatment at the right time, improving outcomes for service members and supporting military readiness. Using the diagnostic tool to assess burn and blast injuries gives the military an immediate assessment of wound severity, enabling faster and more accurate treatment decisions, improving recovery timelines for military members, increasing throughput during a mass casualty or conflict event, and significantly improving the assessment of burn and blast injuries for service members. MTEC and the U.S. Government have played a critical role in accelerating the technology's development and clinical validation, with MTEC granting Spectral AI a $4.0 million award and BARDA, a long term partner that uses the technology in connection with its mass casualty countermeasures program, granting the company over $250.0 million in developmental funding to date on the cart based, FDA approved DeepView System. Spectral AI is grateful for MTEC's continued support and anticipates that the DeepView Snapshot M will positively impact the quality of burn care in military settings and other limited access areas.