Disease Identification Software Launched on U.S. Navy Ships to Expand Healthcare Applications

Navy to pilot test on ships, submarines, and Navy medical facilities throughout the Pacific--allowing crewmen and clinicians to improve the health and safety of military personnel by rapidly diagnosing potentially catastrophic diseases.

The system, called VisualDx, was developed by Logical Images (Rochester, NY, USA) and might be made available for the U.S. Air Force and Army facilities that request it. Richard Cohan, CEO of Logical Images received US$2.4 million in federal funds. The company received the money to expand their visually based healthcare information technology (IT) business through a project with the U.S. Navy.

"The strengths of VisualDx lie in its ability to provide the user with a visual display of all relevant diagnoses within seconds, allowing the health care provider to recognize and respond more quickly at the critical time of need. Our team is anxious to begin this project with the Navy and continue to support those who protect us,” stated Richard Cohan, CEO of Logical Images.

The Navy will license VisualDx software for their use in various Navy sites as a pilot program. Under the direction of the Navy Health Research Center (NHRC; San Diego, CA, USA), VisualDx will be made available to crewmembers and clinicians on naval vessels, and medical facilities throughout the Pacific, which is an area of the world especially vulnerable to many skin diseases. VisualDx may also be made available to Air Force and Army facilities that request it.

Currently in the Navy, access to medical specialists (especially dermatologists) can be time-consuming, costly, and could result in unnecessary loss of critical man-hours when faced with a medical evacuation. With an extensive knowledge base of over 900 visually identifiable diseases, VisualDx will accelerate and improve the diagnostic accuracy of a host of illnesses including SARS, Avian Flu, and other infectious diseases even those brought on by chemical, biologic, radiologic, and nuclear weapon exposure.

Principally, the Navy wants to pilot this technology to allow them faster recognition and response to disease conditions, improving the quality of care given and overall health of naval personnel.

Logical Images develops visual healthcare tools to elevate diagnostic accuracy, enhance medical education, and heighten patient knowledge. The company's products include VisualDx, visual clinical decision support software, and VisualDxHealth, online consumer wellness and healthcare resources. Logical Images has developed a very comprehensive digital medical image library with over 50,000 images including all age ranges and skin types. This extensive collection is the foundation for both the VisualDx professional tool and the VisualDxHealth consumer tool--designed to speed disease recognition for faster, more accurate decision-making, and patient understanding.


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