By By Angie Leventis
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two University of Illinois professors are studying the use of sensors in combat helmets to potentially reduce the effects of traumatic brain injury in military personnel.
The sensors, which are smaller than a pinhead, would continuously monitor brain activity and detect any change due to explosions, physical contact or other trauma. The sensors would record changes in the brain, such as blood oxygen levels and heart rates, and wireless technology would transmit the data to an off-site computer.
Military officials might use the technology to determine when to pull military personnel off the battlefield or when they might need counseling or temporary leave, said researcher Ravi Iyer, director of the Coordinated Science Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Iyer said military personnel who have returned from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan sometimes complain of headaches, memory loss and disorientation, all typical symptoms of traumatic brain injury. These maladies can make it difficult to readjust to life back home — and might prove fatal if the sufferer is in active combat.
“This could be lifesaving,” he said.
A soldier who suffers from a traumatic brain injury might be disoriented, potentially endangering his or her own life or the lives of others on the battlefield if the problem goes untreated, said researcher Kenneth Watkin, professor in the College of Applied Sciences.
Watkin added that sometimes patients don’t realize they’re injured, and problems can surface a day or two after the original impact, which is why continuous monitoring is critical. The U.S. Army uses some sensor-equipped helmets in Afghanistan, but the results are only recorded every 30 days.
“This way we know how the brain is functioning during normal situations, as well as those that may be traumatic,” Watkin said.
The project is funded through the U.S. Department of Defense Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder/Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program; the professors said the university and defense department are still negotiating costs.
Experts in veteran care say the research has great potential.
“The development of such a sensitive helmet for our combat troops is an exciting advance in the field,” said Victor Zelek, a neuropsychologist at Northeast Center for Special Care, in a written statement. The New York-based center specializes in traumatic brain injury.
But Zelek cautioned that these kind of injuries can be complex, and the outcome can be affected by many variables, such as the thickness of the skull, position of the helmet, the type of blast and even if the soldier is wearing a cap underneath.
Watkin and Iyers said they’re still determining how military personnel would best use the technology as well as who would analyze the data. One possibility is that hospitals near the battle site have access to the data, so patients are identified in real time.
The researchers envision other applications for the technology: Firefighters could have helmet sensors measuring oxygen intake during a fire, motorcycle riders could have helmet sensors monitoring vital signs.
“The potential for this is huge,” Iyers said.
In another unrelated study, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professor has been researching the use of sensors in football helmets to guard against concussions. This study focuses on hits to the head, whereas the combat helmet study analyzes all different forms of trauma, both psychological and physical.
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