The U.S. Army is in the final phase of research aimed at supporting accurate medical translation on handheld devices during medical engagements outside the United States.

The ability of medics to communicate with patients is critical for providing effective medical care. Language barriers make such communication a challenge and without the assistance of a human translator, a medic may not be able to accurately capture enough information to fully address a patient’s needs.

That’s why U.S. Army engineers assigned to the Medical Application of Speech Translation, or MAST, a Department of Defense collaborative research project, have spent the past year developing strategies and methods for improving machine foreign language translation software in support of military medical interpretation needs.

“Medics are seeking a small portable solution, basically, translation software that runs on a mobile device that can be used without an internet connection” said, Cynthia Barrigan, MAST Program Manager.

“In addition, we know that while users are interested in using a translation technology, they are concerned about how it will integrate into their clinical routine in the field and how a patient will react to it. They are also aware that they will need the translation to be very accurate to be useful; giving them a vested interest in seeing real improvements to the current capability,” said Barrigan.

“We specialize in language translation in the disconnected environment and doing so on various mobile platforms,” said Ray Schulze, Chief, Information Management Branch of the Command, Power and Integration Directorate.

“After hearing reports about translation challenges in Haiti, following the 2010 earthquake, we recognized that translation was a pressing need for the medical community and that we could assist with the engineering research and development to help accelerate a medical capability,” said Schulze.

“The combination of automatic speech recognition, which takes spoken word and converts it into text, and foreign language translation [technologies] already exists, but the accuracy of those technologies is mediocre, at best, when used within the medical domain,” he added.

Soldiers in some locations currently have access to foreign language translation technologies like the Phraselator, initially developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, back in 2001. Those systems were developed for expedience in particular Soldier scenarios using, initially, one-way translation, and utilized generic phrases that require the user to stick to a script. Commercial translation applications also exist, but they are made for tourists in foreign countries. “Medical providers tend to use complicated terminology that can easily be misinterpreted by a machine”, said Schulze.

“If you’re really talking Western medical terms [to a commercial translation app], take mesothelioma for example, it misunderstands that word as Miss Ophelia,” he said. Hence the Army’s need for a more sophisticated medical translation software.

Schulze points out, however, that machine translation is not expected to replace a human interpreter, especially for emergency or complicated medical practices. Machine translation, according to Schulze, is meant to augment the number of human interpreters that currently exist.

And now for your view. If language was an issue and you were being treated by an Army medic overseas, how would you feel about the use of a language translation devise? In the absence of a human interpreter, would such a device make you feel more or less confident concerning your treatment? We’d welcome your comments.

By Alex Dupont
Marketing Communications Specialist
Language Translation Inc.

See Also

• Machine translation is also known as automated or automatic language translation
  Raw machine translation may only be sufficient for communicating via social networks and video sharing sites, or for getting the gist of a foreign language website.
• Medical interpretation is part of the U.S. Army?s mission abroad
  Effective medical interpretation helps build bridges to better health care.
• Tell me Where it Hurts: Army R&D Improving Translation Technologies for OCONUS Medics
  The U.S. Army has begun the final phase of research which will be used to support accurate medical translation on handheld devices during Department of Defense medical engagements outside the United States.