Award Data

A major threat to U.S. personnel stationed abroad are high levels of toxins that may be present in the local food supply as a result of unregulated pesticide use and the prevalence of toxic industrial chemicals and heavy metals in the environment.Rapid analytical methods are needed that are capable of identifying these threats in food at levels that exceed military exposure guidelines.Triton Syste ...

Current strategies for the treatment of osteochondral injuries are ineffective and are associated with significant side effects. Microfracture techniques have demonstrated limited efficacy over long periods of time and are less effective for larger osteochondral defects. Osteochondral autograft transplants require harvesting from a donor site, which can lead to donor site morbidity. Further, while ...

To address issues of sub-optimal performance of current X-ray CT scanners used by the first re-sponding providers to expedite diagnosis and triage, we are developing a novel scintillator that offers a unique promise to achieve high-sensitivity, high-resolution X-ray imaging through its integration into exist-ing CT detectors. The material we propose is recently discovered, and offers exceptionall ...

Airway compromise is the third leading cause of potentially preventable death on the battlefield. Current evaluation techniques of the airways associated with smoke inhalation injury are highly subjective and lack the sensitivity required of an accurate diagnostic and assessment tool. The problem of detection is further compounded by the late onset of symptoms that in many cases do not present unt ...

Rugged, comfortable and reliable physiological monitoring systems are required to allow military commanders and medical personnel to assess the basic health and readiness of the warfighter. Direct monitoring of the health and status of individual warfight

Post-deployment psychological health issues such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, and comorbid stress and anger management disorders are experienced by substantial numbers of service members. Fortunately, a number of proven, evidence-based treatments have been developed to help these communities with these issues. Although treatment options are offered at many Veterans Aff ...

The use of a Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Environment (PROSE) device is a revolutionary treatment for military patients that have lost their eyelids due to 3rd degree facial burns as well as for civilians who suffer from a host of corneal diseases. However, custom manual fitting is often a protracted painful, inexact process that requires multiple fitting sessions. Training for ne ...

Traditionally, prosthetic legs are built by a prosthetist and then properly aligned while the patient is wearing the device. This process is iterative and time consuming for the patient and prosthetist, and still often leads to improper or non-optimal prosthesis alignment.Without a properly aligned prosthesis, one is unable to maximize performance outcomes and return a person to their former activ ...

Limb loss affects approximately 1.9 million people in the United States. It is well established that lower-limb amputees show greater metabolic demands during gait and more limited mobility compared to non-disabled individuals. Currently, there is no lower-extremity prosthesis available that can monitor the metabolic costs of the amputee. The proposed solution, code-named TEQUILA (Total Energy exp ...

Complex extremity injuries involving peripheral nerves are a significant issue for combat military personnel. Current clinical methods for repairing peripheral nerve injuries, including microsutures, autologous nerve autografts, and synthetic or autologous conduits, have limited success in fully restoring functional behaviors. Since these methods rely on the slow process of the axonal outgrowths f ...