A Medical Device Daily

Karta Technologies (San Antonio) said it was awarded a $75 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the Air Force Surgeon General to provide information modernization technology services.

Karta will provide the personnel, equipment, materials, facilities and services required to support worldwide medical information technology (IT) projects. It said it will support systems development, implementations, modeling and creation of best practices, technology standards, engineering, operation, modernization and maintenance for the Air Force Medical Service.

Bill Parker, Karta president and COO, said, “This is a great win for Karta. We have supported the AFMS for over a decade and look forward to continuing to assist in the Air Force medical mission through this contract.”

Karta's Healthcare and Technology Solutions division provides additional services to the Air Force Surgeon General and the Major Command Surgeons offices in the areas of strategic planning, business process reengineering, program management, information technology, and special studies.

Karta provides IT and systems integration solutions to government and commercial clients.

In other grant news:

• Micromachines (Watertown, Massachusetts), a provider of MEMS-based deformable mirror products for adaptive optics systems, said it has been selected by the U.S. Army for a Phase 1 Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) award through the Department of Defense.

The STTR award of about $100,000 will allow Boston Micromachines and its research partner Boston University to begin development of the Secure Communicating Optical Ultra-small Transponder (SCOUT), intended to save lives on the battlefield through secure optical communication using an active mirror enabling the rapid identification of friendly soldiers, vehicles or aircraft.

SCOUT's applications extend beyond Identify Friend or Foe, to include situational awareness, covert communication and reading from remote sensors such as bio-weapon detector and motion trackers. Slightly larger than a matchbox, this ultra-low power, and long-range transponder will allow for ground- and air-based communication from soldier-to-soldier, vehicle-to-soldier, and vehicle-to-vehicle. Additionally, SCOUT will be an upgrade to current weapons' laser systems so the integration of the technology will be seamless.

Paul Bierden, president/CEO of Boston Micromachines, said, “Our technology, which has helped advance applications in Department of Defense laser communications systems, will now play an important role in the effort to save lives on the battlefield.”