Philips to Release RATE in Four-Year Contract with U.S. DoD

Royal Philips will advance access to the predictive health monitoring of the Rapid Analysis of Threat Exposure (RATE) algorithm to support the well-being and readiness of active-duty service personnel for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). 

Over the next four years, the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) will invest $25 million to make the technology more accessible in the field.

RATE is an early detector of pre-symptomatic infection in humans, currently in advanced development. It is part of efforts to improve the readiness monitoring of active-duty personnel and has broad application in healthcare settings. 

The first version of the RATE algorithm was developed in 2019 and used large-scale data science, machine learning, and trade-space analyses across demographics and 163 different biomarkers (vital signs and laboratory measurements) from a Philips data set of over 36,000 cases of hospital-acquired infections to develop a risk score. 

The risk score worked for multiple general types of infection, including common respiratory infections like pneumococcal pneumonia. Results were published in a 2023 study in Frontiers in Medicine.

The algorithm was developed as an early warning system that can reduce an individual’s downtime and aid in quickly containing the spread of disease by allowing exposed individuals to self-isolate or seek medical attention sooner.

“Our mission is to protect our troops and ensure we can quickly detect and prevent the spread of illness that can impact their wellbeing and our ability to protect our nation,” said Lorenzo Hankla, JPEO Wearables Program Officer. “Giving them the option of using readily available off-the-shelf wearables that are trained on clinical data allows them to passively monitor their health and quickly act if their infection score is high. In the wake of the pandemic, our troops need access to new AI-enabled technologies that can have a meaningful impact on their readiness and ensure overall military operations.”

A wearable version of the algorithm, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leveraged biometric data from commercial-off-the-shelf wearables to enable early detection of infection. A 2022 study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports showed how, in a cohort of 9,381 DoD personnel, the algorithm could detect COVID-19 infection on average 2.3 days before symptoms appeared.

“Protecting the physical health and well-being of active service members is paramount,” said Jeff DiLullo, Chief Region Leader, Philips North America, and U.S. Army Veteran. “Our military personnel have unique care needs depending on their role and environment, and thanks to AI-enabled, predictive innovations like RATE, we can enable more timely intervention and personalized care, reducing downtime and improving outcomes – not only for individuals but entire units, too. The faster we diagnose and treat, the sooner these brave men and women are ready for duty.”