April 2022: Thriving at the leading edge of innovation. Remote control demo is latest milestone of MTEC-funded initiative.

Thornhill Medical teams thrive at the forefront of medical technology innovation, and these past few months have featured some of our most exciting work yet. 

In addition to continuing to push the boundaries of respiratory science and technology, Thornhill is proud to be collaborating with research and industry leaders to advance new and emerging solutions in critical medical care for battlefield and disaster environments.

MOVES® SLC™, Thornhill’s portable integrated life support system, was showcased in a recent successful remote-control demonstration involving a simulation scenario of clinical professionals located more than 2,500 miles away from the patient.

In a demonstration of “Remote Control of Ventilators & Infusion Pumps to Support Disaster Care” organized by the U.S. Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC, clinical professionals located in Seattle, WA remotely operated a MOVES® SLC located in Toronto, Canada, simulating a successful patient evacuation scenario.

The demonstration reaffirmed the transformational impact of deploying interoperable medical devices like MOVES® SLC that feature remote capabilities, and underscored the potential of integrated, future-proof technologies to transform casualty care today and in the future.

“In these complex, evolving environments, there is a growing demand for practical solutions that address the unique demands of treating, holding, and evacuating casualties in ways that conventional medtech is unable to fulfill,” explains Thornhill’s Director of Commercial Products, Derek Watt. “Life-saving medical care via remote control is just one trend among several which are reshaping the way battlefield and disaster relief patient care is delivered —and we’re out there every day proving that Thornhill’s technologies are future-ready, today.”

The demonstration is the latest milestone in a project initiated in 2021, when Thornhill, together with Cognitive Medical Systems, was awarded vital funding by the U.S. Department of Defense Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) to advance medical device interoperability and remote control. The award is part of a sustained drive to improve military field care, particularly focusing on innovations that enable flexible, dynamic capacity to meet local critical care demand with remotely controlled and eventually autonomous medical devices.

The interest in harnessing these advances is driven by the growing need to support military prolonged field care, especially in multi-domain battlefield scenarios and large-scale combat operations. Thornhill’s Senior Military Consultant Frederick Gerber (COL, USA Ret) recently explored this topic in a webinar he co-led with Will Schiek (COL, USA MSC Ret) entitled “Future Readiness: Medical Battlefield Operations & US Army Multi-Domain Operations (MDO)”, in which together they shared valuable insights into emerging battlefield operating concepts, the latest U.S. Army JTS 2021 Prolonged Care doctrine, and the implications for future battlefield medicine.

Catch up on the webinar here and sign up for early bird access to the next event.

These initiatives — along with the recent announcement that the U.S. AMRDEC Sustainment, Readiness and Development (SED) has awarded MOVES® SLC with fleet-wide U.S. Army Airworthiness Release — reflect Thornhill’s effectiveness in the military and disaster relief sectors, and build on our product’s proven performance in the field. In 2020, MOVES® SLC was selected by the Canadian and Ontario governments to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

And while it has been a rewarding season of new milestones and customer partnerships, that doesn’t mean the momentum is slowing. With exciting new developments ahead, the Thornhill Medical team is laser-focused on staying future-ready, today.

About MOVES® SLC™ 

MOVES® SLC™ extends the critical care window on the battlefield of today and tomorrow. The micro-integrated technology combines an oxygen concentrator, a unique O2-conserving ventilator, suction and complete vital signs monitoring in a single, rugged, portable, battery-powered unit without the need for heavy, dangerous oxygen tanks. MOVES® SLC™ builds upon the functionality of the first-generation MOVES®, which is the current Portable Patient Transport Life Support System (PPTLSS) deployed by the United States Marine Corps.

About Thornhill Medical

Thornhill Medical is a leading developer of innovative medical technologies, including amongst others, its proprietary MOVES® SLC™ integrated life-support technology and MADM™ the first portable in-line vapor anesthesia delivery device that turns any ventilator into an anesthesia workstation. Thornhill Medical’s ground-breaking products are produced to be used around the world by emergency health care providers, military medical teams and disaster relief responders. Thornhill Medical has a wide range of expertise from basic science such as physiology, critical care medicine and electrical and mechanical engineering.