Monday, November 3, 2008
Battlefield Clothing Features Built-In Tourniquets
Blackhawk, a company specializing in military and civilian security clothing, has created a style of trousers that feature built-in tourniquets for speedy compression during critical moments when time is of the essence.
Here's a video demonstrating the system:
(hat tip: Gizmodo)
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Monday, November 3, 2008
Project to Develop Wearable Battlefield "Hospital"
A team at the University of California San Diego has received a grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to develop a "hospital-on-a-chip" system that will, in the far off distant future, have a wearable device to sense the body's biochemical changes, which will then be linked through a computer controller to a unit that can administer medicine based on the sensor's findings. Hopefully one day this technology will provide initial treatment to soldiers wounded in the field, and may very well find itself in commercial applications such automated systems for diabetics.
To realize their “field hospital on a chip” idea, the engineers will need to build a minimally invasive system that monitors multiple biomarkers simultaneously and uses the system’s “smarts” to process all this biomarker information and tease out accurate, automated diagnoses. These diagnoses would immediately trigger drug delivery or other medical intervention.“Today’s insulin and glucose management systems for patients with diabetes don’t include smart sensors capable of performing complex logic operations,” said Wang, who helped to develop the first noninvasive system for monitoring glucose from a patient’s sweat. “We are working on a system that will be different. It will monitor biomarkers and make decisions about the type of injury a person has sustained and then begin treating that person accordingly,” said Wang.
To reach this level of automated diagnostic dexterity, the researchers plan to build upon “enzyme logic” breakthroughs recently demonstrated by Evgeny Katz, a Co-PI on the grant and the Milton Kerker Chaired professor of Chemistry and Biomolecular Science at Clarkson University.
Katz and colleagues demonstrated recently that enzymes can not only measure biomarkers, but also provide the logic necessary to make a limited set of diagnoses based on multiple biological variables.
Lactate, oxygen, norepinephrine and glucose are examples as the kinds of injury biomarkers that will serve as biological input signals for their prototype logic system. Electrodes containing a combination of enzymes will serve as sensors and provide the logic necessary to convert the biomarkers to products which may then be picked up by another enzyme on the electrode for further logic operations. The electrodes will also act as transducers that produce strings of 1s and 0s that will activate smart materials that release medication based on predetermined treatment plans.
“We just want the ones and zeros. The pattern of ones and zeros will reveal the type of injury and automatically trigger the proper treatment,” said Wang.
For example, if an injured soldier were to enter a state of shock, enzymes on the electrode would sense rising levels of the biomarkers lactate, glucose and norepinephrine. In turn, the concentrations of products generated by the enzymes would change—higher hydrogen peroxide, lower norepi-quinone, higher NADH and lower NAD+. This will cause the built-in logic structure to output the signal “1,0,1,0” which points to shock and will trigger a pre-determined treatment response.
Read: Field-Hospital-on-a-Chip Project Awarded to NanoEngineer from UC San Diego...
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Thursday, October 23, 2008
DARPA Nose Competition
DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) is sponsoring a new competition to develop "... a highly versatile and sensitive broad-spectrum device capable of detecting odorants under the challenge of real-world conditions". Obviously the military and security implications are immense, but so is the potential to develop further knowledge about the inner workings of one of the most primitive CNS pathways.
Like the X-Prize devoted to Healthcare we reported on earlier, DARPA's projects attract some of the top scientists from around the world and leverages their knowledge and inspiration to produce exponential gains in the field.
Evolved Machines, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA) has been selected as a prime contractor to engineer an artificial olfaction system incorporating "brain-like" neural pattern recognition. In their press release, DARPA labeled the project "RealNose", and the agency emphasizes that it will be "the first program to tackle the separation of multiple odorants in the presence of unknown backgrounds that characterize the detection problems presented in real-world settings."
As with so many advances in medicine which evolved from military initiatives, the potential for medical gain goes beyond just the increased knowledge of neural networks, it could provide "simplified" detectors for cancers, infectious diseases, diabetes, and many other illnesses shown to be detectable by canines (among other animals).
Darpa Press Release at SAIC...
MIT News Release: Sniffing Out Success...
Flashbacks: No, Not Another Electronic Nose! ; Nanowire-based Electronic Nose; E-nose to Detect Lung CA; SPOT-NOSED: A Hi-Tech Nose For Disease Detection; "Electronic Nose" to Aid Asthma Diagnosis; Detecting Infection With E-nose
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Infrascanner, an Intracranial Hematoma Detector, Goes on Sale in Europe
Infrascan out of Philly, PA has received the European CE Mark to sell the company's infrared hematoma detection device for emergency personnel responding to traumatic injuries.
From the press release about the device:
The Infrascanner brain hematoma detector is the first hand-held device of its kind designed to assist first responders and emergency room personnel in identifying life threatening brain hematomas, allowing expedient assessment of patients and potentially facilitating crucial treatment. Intracranial hematomas resulting from a traumatic brain injury are life-threatening and patient outcomes can improve significantly if treated within an hour after an injury – known as the “golden hour”. While most hospitals have a Computer Aided Tomography (CAT) scanner, which is viewed as the state-of-the-art technology for diagnosing a brain hematoma, many facilities lack the neurosurgical capabilities to treat the condition. The early identification of a brain hematoma can play a significant role in facilitating transportation of critically injured patients to facilities, which can both verify Infrascanner’s early diagnosis and offer surgical intervention.The Infrascanner is a small, completely portable device, which can detect the presence and location of a brain hematoma based on differential NIR light absorption of a hematoma and normal brain tissue. InfraScan will present the results of a pivotal (400 patient) multicenter study to the FDA later this year to support its 510k application and a subsequent U.S. launch of the device. A pilot study with an earlier Infrascanner prototype involving more than 300 patients demonstrated high sensitivity for detecting bleeding in the brain and for rapidly detecting the onset of delayed hematomas.
Product page: Infrascanner...
Press release: InfraScan Launches International Sales of a Handheld Brain Hematoma Detector (.pdf)...
Flashback: Quick, Cheap & Easy Bedside Diagnosis of Brain Injury
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
MedEx 1000: ICU in a Suitcase!
Do you remember when a cellphone came in a small suitcase? If you don't, your parents surely will! Well, the FDA has just approved an "ICU in a suitcase". Containing an integrated ventilator with CO2&O2 monitoring, ECG, invasive pressure monitoring, non-invasive blood pressure monitoring, low and high rate infusion pumps with a fluid warmer... But that's not all. It also measures temperature, pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation, and it has...
... data storage and transmission system, unified control-and-display unit, and hot-swappable batteries. Additional medical devices can be added using the Auxiliary Device Port and be controlled and displayed through the MedEx 1000. A USB Port provides connectivity to an external printer, and allows for a connection of a USB flash drive to off-load (download) logged data. An Ethernet Port allows for Local Area Network (LAN) connectivity. The unit can accept external sources of both electrical power and oxygen
And it all weighs less than 40 lbs.
It is no wonder the FDA took less than 60 days to approve this device's application request. Further quoting the press release from Integrated Medical Systems, Inc. (IMS):
...the company's new modular integrated architecture will serve as a basis for an entire product family of scalable, customizable integrated solutions, and includes the first centralized control - as well as the first remote control - of multiple medical, data and utility capabilities. Just like systems integration transformed the automotive, aerospace and computer industries, the company is at the forefront of transforming healthcare through systems integration. We believe this innovative system addresses a large unmet clinical need to support continuous patient care," said Adam Seiver, MD, PhD, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery Medical School, Stanford, former Director of Surgical Critical Care at Stanford Medical Center, and a member of company's Board of Advisors.
Initial deliveries of the MedEx 1000 are expected in the first quarter of 2009. IMS expects to have a CE Mark by fall 2008, permitting marketing and sales in Europe.
Product page: MedEx 1000...
Press release: Integrated Medical Systems Receives FDA Clearance for World's First 'Suitcase' Intensive Care Unit...
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Thursday, October 2, 2008
Ultrasound Wound Dressings in Development (Again)
Siemens has signed a contract with DARPA to develop a battlefield wound dressing with an embedded ultrasound device, capable of tuning itself somewhere near the resonant frequency of blood. The technology promises to stimulate coagulation around an injury, stabilizing the wound for further treatment. This is not the first time we see an acoustic coagulation system being entertained by DARPA, as previously we've reported on a very similar project between the defense agency and Philips.
Here's what Siemens says about this new project:
... Siemens has entered into an exclusive government contract today with the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a prototype Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation cuff (DBAC), a life-saving ultrasound device limiting blood loss and shock resulting from combat limb injuries. Partners at the University of Washington's Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound (UW), the Texas A&M University's Institute for Preclinical Studies (TIPS) and Siemens Corporate Research (SCR) will work together with Siemens Healthcare to achieve DARPA's goal of producing a prototype in 18 months...The cuff is designed to limit blood loss from penetrating wounds to limbs in fast and slow bleeders, significantly reducing the risk of limb loss and death resulting from irreversible hemorrhagic shock. Once applied to the limb, Siemens Silicon Ultrasound technology within the cuff automatically detects the location and severity of the bleeding within the limb. This triggers therapeutic ultrasound elements within the cuff to emit and focus high-power energy toward the bleeding sites, speeding coagulation and halting bleeding at the injury site. The device is intended for use by minimally-trained operators, curtailing bleeding in a minimal amount of time with automatic treatment and power shut-off.
"We are very excited to leverage advanced technologies of Siemens Ultrasound such as real-time volumetric imaging and Silicon transducers to realize DARPA's vision for saving lives on the battlefield," said Richard Chiao, VP of Siemens Healthcare's Ultrasound Innovation Group. "We believe technologies developed for this new therapeutic application of ultrasound will also benefit civilian care in the future."
Aside from its use of advanced medical technologies, the cuff's use in the field requires a compact, lightweight design with highly integrated electronics. Built with versatility in mind, the cuff is capable of accommodating a variety of limbs ranging from the wide male thigh to the slender female arm.
"We are eager to participate in this exciting program", noted Lawrence A. Crum, Research Professor and Principal Investigator of the University of Washington effort. "This unique technology offers a real opportunity to address a major problem in battlefield trauma."
"The challenge of applying our extensive animal modeling expertise to develop this potentially life-saving technology is exciting", noted Matthew W. Miller, DVM, Professor of Cardiology and Associate Director for Research at TIPS. "The opportunity to work closely with talented colleagues at SCR and UW will ensure that the likelihood of success is maximized."
The team will be working in collaboration with future users of the technology to maximize its potential, including the Combat Casualty Care Group at the US Army Medical Research and Material Command, surgeons from the Madigan Army Medical Center, and the US Army Institute for Surgical Research.
Project page: Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation
Flashbacks: Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation, aka Autonomous Acoustic Hemostasis; Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation; The Battle Against Bleeding
(hat tip: Crave)
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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
A CRIC In The Neck!
Here's an interesting product we haven't seen before. The Complete Rapid Illuminated Cricothyrotomy (CRIC) Kit is the latest life-saving medical product from Canadian company Pyng Medical, the developers of FAST1® Intraosseous Infusion System, that we profiled yesterday. Although FDA approval is pending, the new CRIC Kit is expected to provide significant improvements in speed, efficacy and safety to the life-saving medical procedure of cricothyrotomy.
The CRIC Kit is being developed with support from the US Department of Defense (DOD) for the purpose of equipping US military medics and physicians. Currently, cricothyrotomy requires the use of at least three distinct medical instruments: scalpel, retractor, insertion tube, and in many cases, a light source. This can be difficult enough to manage in a modern ER, not to mention the extreme conditions that exist on the battlefield, where an obstructed airway is the second leading cause of death (after exsanguination).
CRIC Cricothyrotomy Kit product page and instructions...
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Monday, September 29, 2008
The Fastest Way To a Man's Heart is Through FAST1 Intraosseous Infusion System
They say the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but as Pyng Medical Corporation likes to point out, not if the man is in cardiac arrest! Pyng is a Richmond, B.C. based life-sciences company whose mission is "Saving lives by saving time through innovation in resuscitation." If the military medics and physicians I work with are right (and I think they are), Pyng is certainly living up to their goals and has become a routine lifesaver in Afghanistan and Iraq.
To quote the company's website:
The FAST1® Intraosseous Infusion System is the fastest, most reliable and safe alternative to conventional intravenous and central lines. When every second counts, FAST1® offers lifesaving vascular access for fluid and drug infusion in shock and trauma victims. FAST1® Intraosseous Infusion System is the fastest route to get drugs to the heart -- less than 30 seconds -- and in higher concentrations than other IO options. With everything you need in a self-contained, lightweight package.FAST1® is an innovative leap forward in resuscitation and critical patient care. The only sternal IO option available, FAST1® has been adopted by emergency medical services, hospitals and military medical units worldwide.
Delivers drugs to the heart 2 - 3 times faster than tibial IO
Fastest route to the heart of any vascular access device, including IV
Precise placement, every time
Automatic depth control for safety of delivery above the lungs and heart
Simplicity of use
Sterile, single-use product, completely disposable, with no risk of cross-contamination
Soft, low-profile, flexible, secure tubing
Sleek, lightweight design allows portability in medic's packs
Of note, by accessing the IO route through the manubrium there is no interference with chest compressions during CPR.
Check out this video of medics practicing the technique (on each other):
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Sagent Pharmaceutical's Sequential Syringes
Sagent Pharmaceuticals of Schaumburg, IL, has acquired a multi-chamber sequential syringe delivery system from Infusive Technologies, a Utah company, which allows for multiple drug solution deliveries through one (conventional) syringe. Jeffrey M. Yordon, chairman, founder and chief executive officer of Sagent Pharmaceuticals notes that a single syringe push allows for the delivery of separate IV medications. This not only increases the speed of medication delivery but reduces the number of IV connections required (thus lowering the incidence of nosocomial infections), as well as reducing medication delivery errors.
Infusive's Chief Executive Officer, Bradley C. Robinson said "Syringes based on our unique, patented technologies have the potential to dramatically improve the delivery of IV medications, reduce the risk of medical error and hospital-acquired infection while at the same time lowering costs for healthcare providers. Infusive remains committed to providing quality IV medication delivery systems that enhance effectiveness and improve patient safety." Robinson says "I look forward to joining Jeff and the team at Sagent and to quickly make this exciting new device available to patients and caregivers."
The unique dual-chamber syringe can accommodate lyophilized (dried by freezing in a high vacuum), powder or liquid formulations in the front chamber combined with diluents, saline or heparin flush in the rear chamber.
More information about ChaSyr™ syringes can be found on Infusive website...
Press release: Sagent Pharmaceuticals acquires rights to multi-chamber syringe technology and launches device division...
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Monday, September 22, 2008
No NO Gadget For Asthma
NO (nitric oxide) is a measurable marker of asthma-related inflammation. As well, it has been shown that the higher the level of NO in the breath, the greater the inflammation present in the lungs. So, Dr. Stanley Szefler, M.D., of National Jewish Health in Denver, in conjunction with Dr. William Busse, M.D., of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, hypothesized that the measurement of exhaled NO, in addition to the NIH asthma guidelines-based approach, would improve asthma control over the guidelines-based approach alone. If this hypothesis could be proven, then NO measuring gadgets could become a new tool to help guide treatment.
Published in the September 20th edition of The Lancet, this largest study to date testing exhaled nitric oxide as a biomarker for asthma management failed to show that the group whose treatment was guided by exhaled NO did not end up with fewer or less severe asthma symptoms or fewer asthma exacerbations as compared with the group that received treatment based on the NAEPP (National Asthma Education and Prevention Program) guidelines alone.
Bad news, no new gadgets to help guide asthma treatment but the good news according to the study authors, is that "good adherence to the current guidelines [for treating asthma patients] can mean good disease management without the need for a biomarker."
NIH press release: Monitoring Exhaled Nitric Oxide Does Not Help Manage Asthma...
Abstract: Management of asthma based on exhaled nitric oxide in addition to guideline-based treatment for inner-city adolescents and young adults: a randomised controlled trial The Lancet 2008; 372:1065-1072
Image credit: Wellcome images: Asthma; child using a 'reliever' (bronchodilator) inhaler (Rotahaler)....
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Monday, August 25, 2008
CombiCarrier Emergency Backboard/Stretcher Goes On Sale
The CombiCarrier II, a device that we profiled when it won a silver in the 2008 International Design Excellence Awards, is now available from Hartwell Medical. This is an improved version of the popular CombiCarrier that was originally introduced in 1999.
With this release, several improvements to an already stellar design were implemented. The CombiCarrier II is a full 4 pounds lighter than the first-generation CombiCarrier, sports a lower profile to ease storage and access requirements, incorporates a more ergonomic handhold design, and will accommodate a wide range of commonly used head immobilizers applied on-scene to perform full-spine immobilization.Combining the best of both worlds, the award-winning CombiCarrier II incorporates the best features of both a scoop stretcher and a traditional backboard. The concave patient surface provides superior lateral support and improves the patient's sense of security. The CombiCarrier II separates completely in half, enabling easy transfer of patients with suspected hip and pelvic fractures. Sturdy material design results in a scoop-backboard that is stiffer than most traditional long boards on the market, and as an added bonus all CombiCarrier II units ship with speed-clip pins.
Press release: Hartwell Medical Announces Release of CombiCarrier®II Scoop Backboard to EMS Market...
Product page: CombiCarrier II...
Flashback: CombiCarrier II Wins Silver for Good Design
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Monday, August 11, 2008
Color Changing Crystals for Detecting Brain Trauma
University of Pennsylvania Professor Shu Yang has developed a crystalline material which may aid in the diagnosis of brain trauma for soldiers in the field. The crystal patch, which can be applied to a soldier's uniform, will change shape and therefore color when a shockwave hits the material. Researchers are still unsure as to how color changes correlate to the severity of brain damage and to neurological damage. However,shockwaves from bomb blasts can cause damage to the brain that cannot be detected by CT scanning or MRI. These crystalline-patches can potentially solve this problem and allow for the adequate and prompt treatment of these soldiers. The technology itself seems promising and has the potential to save many soldiers who have brain injuries that may not be apparent on CT or MRI scans.
From BBC News:
MRI scans pick up structural damage, such as bleeds on the brain, excess fluid or skull fractures.
But a shockwave, such as that caused by a bomb can cause damage on a cellular level, with microscopic tears in the brain.This would not be picked up on a scan but like any brain injury can cause long-term problems with symptoms such as headaches, behaviour change and memory loss.
When a shock wave hits the material, which would be in the form of a thin film, like a small sticker, the crystals would change shape and thus colour.
"Depending on the damage, you'll have different colour intensities," said Professor Yang [Shu Yang, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia]. "Based on that information we can extract how much force the soldier has received."
More from BBC News...
Image: Sample image from Dr Yang's lab demonstrating the wrinkles created within the material after a bit of mechanical interference.
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Friday, July 18, 2008
CombiCarrier II Wins Silver for Good Design
The CombiCarrier II is a new version of Hartwell Medical's innovative emergency stretcher, and a Silver winner of the 2008 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) in the Medical & Scientific category. (IDEA 2008 awards were announced today.) The device is designed to minimize spinal movement of patients after a potential back or neck injury by sliding the two sections of the stretcher under the person without rolling or shifting. Additionally, being made of plastic, the stretcher allows for X-rays to pass right through, allowing hospital staff to take the patient directly to radiology.
Some of the features from the CombiCarrier product page:
Approved as a full backboard and orthopedic stretcher
Patient can be rotated and slid out onto the CombiCarrier during auto extrication situations. Works like a traditional backboard.Separates in Half for Application
Can be separated at either end. Eliminates unnecessary movement making it ideal for patients with suspected hip and pelvic injuries.Continuous Head Support Surface
Improves neutral alignment and minimizes head movement during application and removal. Accommodates most durable and disposable head immobilizers, i.e., #445, HeadHugger™ and HeadBed II™.Auto-Lock Latch System
Recessed side latch is positioned away from patient. Locks instantly during application, manual release required during removal from patient.Seamless Plastic Construction
No rivets, drive screws or roll pins. High density polyethylene is easily cleaned and disinfected. Helps comply with OSHA regulations. Foam filling makes it ideal for water rescue situations.X-ray Compatible
Clear center section provides unobstructed A/P view of patient's spine. Split-design allows for simple, easy removal and reapplication for detailed X-ray examination if necessary.
Product page: CombiCarrier...
More from Morphix Design...
2008 IDEA award details for CombiCarrier II...
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
In the Works: Tablets With Innovative Handwriting Recognition for EMS
Ritescript, maker of the ritePen® 3.0 handwriting recognition software out Sunnyvale, California, and ESO Solutions, a developer of EMR portable computer systems out of Austin, Texas, have agreed to team up on fully pen-based tablets for paramedics and firefighters.
A bit from the companies:
ESO Solutions provides medic-friendly, cost-effective electronic patient care reporting (ePCR) software and billing services for EMS and Fire organizations nationwide. The ESO Pro ePCR Suite is an intuitive, NEMSIS Gold application that helps emergency medical responders capture necessary patient data during emergency visits via pen-based notebook computers. The application also includes a robust quality management module, extensive ad hoc reporting functionality, interface capabilities, validation and tracking tools, and more.Using ESO Pro Mobile on rugged pen-based notebooks in the field allows emergency responders to quickly capture patient vitals, medications, cardiac arrest treatments, electronic signatures, and other critical call data. ritePen 3.0 further enhances their ability to perform mission critical work, delivering easy text entry and medical terminology recognition as well as workflow control via handwritten shortcuts.
Check out this video overview of the handwritten character recognition capabilities and features of ritePen:
Press release: ESO Solutions Chooses ritePen for ESO PRO™ ePCR Suite...
ritePen 3.0 software overview...
More at emrupdate.com...
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Noninvasive Continuous Glucometer for the Battlefield
At Georgetown University scientists have been working on a DARPA sponsored project to develop a miniature glucose monitoring device that is essentially non-invasive and can be worn on the body for continuous testing. There is no question that if developed, this technology would be quite useful at the home front as well.
The biosensor device works to painlessly remove this outer-dermis, or dead-skin layer, by using a “micro-hotplate” (or micro-heater), which measures about 50 microns square and is carefully controlled to apply a small amount of power. (To imagine how small this area is, note that the period at the end of this sentence is about 10 times larger than the hotplate). For 30 milliseconds (that’s 30 one-thousandths of a second) the “hotplate” is turned on to a temperature of 130 C. Sounds hot, but in such a small spot, and for such a short time, a person cannot even detect the heat, or feel any pain, as it is applied to the outer layers of skin.This hotplate causes a tiny micro-pore to form through which a little bubble of fluid passively emerges. The bio-sensor then reads the glucose levels in the sample fluid through tiny electrodes coated with a substance that reacts specifically to the glucose.
The bio-sensor project initially began through funding from the military, with the intention of developing a miniature device to remotely monitor the health status of soldiers in a battlefield. This tiny prototype chip, which acts as a patch on the skin and is called the B-FIT (Bio-Flips Integrable Transdermal MicroSystem), can obtain samples of fluid from under the skin one time every hour for a 24-hour period.
To support the design and development of the device, Currie and Paranjape received a Department of Defense contract for $3 million over 3 years from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).
Full story at Georgetown: Monitoring Diabetes Without Pain and Blood: Biosensors Offer New Alternatives ...
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Wednesday, June 18, 2008
DARPA Wants Silly Putty for Serious Situations
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is soliciting proposals to develop a "fracture putty" material that would be used for quickly repairing broken bones while providing cast-like support for the fracture.
From DARPA:
DARPA wants to develop a dynamic, putty-like material which, when packed in/around a compound bone fracture, provides full load-bearing capabilities within days, creates an osteoconductive bone-like internal structure, and degrades over time to harmless resorbable by-products as normal bone regenerates. The agency believes that a successful "Fracture Putty" could rapidly restore a patient to ambulatory function while normal healing ensues, with dramatically reduced rehabilitation time and the elimination of infection and secondary fractures.Potential solutions for Fracture Putty could involve novel bioresorbable adhesives that bond preferentially to bone rather than to soft tissues, that have bone-like mechanical properties, and work in the wet biological environment; load-bearing biomaterials with high mechanical strength and high porosity that match the mechanical properties of bone; biomaterials that create hierarchical bone-like internal structure; and biomaterials that adapt to biochemical cues. Mathematical models for dynamically remodeling systems with complex stimuli will also be necessary to achieve Fracture Putty's development.
Press release: DARPA SOLICITS PROPOSALS TO DEVELOP "FRACTURE PUTTY" (PDF)
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Thursday, May 22, 2008
Israel Developing Unpiloted Med-Evacuation Aerial Vehicles
The Aerospace Medicine Research Center at the Fisher Institute For Air & Space Strategic Studies in Israel has a program to develop unpiloted med-evacuation aerial vehicles, aka "MedUAV's", with landing-to-evacuation time as short as 45 seconds, according to Gizmodo.
From the project page:
MedUAV is a Hybrid medical re-supply & casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) vertical take off and landing (VTOL) unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV) for civilian or military urban or sea scenarios and as a recovery capability for incapacitated, wounded or killed personnel suspected of having been exposed to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive (CBRNE) hazards. MedUAV is equipped with an electrical motor capable of providing hover lift at zero airspeed, cruise to speeds of up to 150 knots and a cruise ceiling of about 10,000 feet with a useful payload for 4 patient with full gear for endurance of 3 hours. The unmanned platform will also carry a passive and active self-protection system...The MedUAV, technology will enable to resupply medical logistic to combat medics and facilitate them to provide the best treatment, stabilization and subsequent evacuation of combat casualties from hostile situations onboard the MedUAV autonomously. The research formulated a concept of design, to enable later in order to demonstrate the feasibility of producing enabling technologies for the MedUAV. These include a proficient system for navigating through urban or wooded terrain to a site of combat injury, to select a safe and suitable site for autonomous landing and take-off with communication capability with the human medical team, and minimal operating and guidance from combat troops. This will enhance the potential for appropriate first responder care and evacuation, performed by combat medics, during the so called “Golden Hour” of combat casualty care, utilizing the benefits and new abilities onboard the MedUAV.
The MedUAV research and development lead to primary two streams of technologies approaches for the flying vehicle design: The first one is a Medical Rotary UAV option – to convert a current operational military MedEvac Helicopter, tested and registered it for dual use. It will maintain the ability for fly by wire with flight crew on board and on the same vehicle an option to fly safely autonomously as a VTOL UAV leaded by the IAI (www.iai.co.il). The second technology option is to design an innovated aerial vehicle concept for a Med VTOL UAV. The proposed design is a turbine powered VTOL vehicle, based on two ducted lift fans, contained inside the vehicle's fuselage leaded by Urban Aeronautics (www.urbanaero.com).
Project page: Med-Evacuation Aerial Vehicle MedUAV...
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Pentagon Wants to Develop Device to Gauge Brain Trauma in the Field
The Department of Defense is investing heavily into building a mobile hand held device that can identify signs of brain damage in a person following a roadside bomb or any other injury causing trauma to the head.
From the Wall Street Journal Health Blog:
The Pentagon’s answer: A gizmo that could evaluate a soldier in seconds. And the Defense Department is giving the Brain Trauma Foundation $4.6 million over four years to come up with a device that can do just that–and is rugged enough to function in Iraq. It’s part of $300 million Congress set aside for research into traumatic brain injury and psychological health.The battlefield-ready version isn’t finished. When it is, it’ll probably include goggles or a visor attached to a PDA. But at its heart will be a tiny, high-resolution camera and software to measure how well the soldier can track a red dot traveling in a small circle. How consistently the eye tracks the dot– both initially, and then while the patient concentrates on a simple task, like remembering five words – indicates how much damage was done, said Jamshid Ghajar, the foundation’s president and a clinical neurosurgeon at Weill Cornell Medical College.
More at the WSJ Health Blog...
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
Reinventing Air Clinics
The US military is looking into modifying a fleet of their transport planes to install systems that would allow any of the planes to be rapidly converted into a transport hospital.
From Defense Industry Daily
For several decades, the USA had a fleet of dedicated aircraft, the last being its DC-9 derived C-9A “Florence Nightningale” fleet. In its place is a new approach devised by USAF Lt. Gen. Paul K. Carlton Jr., the Air Force surgeon general until 2002. The idea is that every USAF Air Mobility Command aircraft can become an aeromedical aircraft, as newly arrived aircraft on the tarmac are loaded with about 800 pounds of gear and supplies per patient and diverted to hospitals like Landstuhl in Germany. Instead of waiting for days to stabilize a patient, outbound flights are sometimes coordinated while a patient is still in surgery. The result? Lower average cargo volume and weight statistics for US transport aircraft missions, and a 90% survival rate for troops injured in current operations. In Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the rate was about 75%...
What if the lighter systems used for helicopters could be adapted for larger fixed-wing aircraft, and used to create a portable litter system that needed no cargo equipment support, and could be kept with aeromedical evacuation crews?AMB (Air Mobility Command) teamed with Lifeport, Inc. to demonstrate the concept using the company’s stacking litter system (SLS) which weighs less than 150 pounds. The initiative’s initial approval date was April 2007, and the concept demonstration was completed in June 2007 on a KC-135 Stratotanker. The team demonstrated compatibility with the NATO mesh litter, a litter backrest, and the special medical emergency evacuation device. The SLS encountered some minor compatibility issues due to its helicopter origins, but none were show-stoppers and the system could be loaded by 2 people without equipment, and installed in the plane in under 20 minutes.
More from Defense Industry Daily...