An Ultrasonic Tourniquet to Stop Battlefield Bleed

[Jared Moya]

The Pentagon is committing $51 million to creating a tool for acoustic cauterization.



The U.S. military has begun developing an ultrasonic tourniquet in an effort to stop life-threatening bleeding during combat.

Called the Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation (DBAC) program, it aims to create a cuff-like device that wraps around a wounded limb. Rather than applying pressure to the wound to stem the flow of blood, the device would use focused beams of ultrasound (sound waves above the audible frequencies) to non-invasively clot vessels no matter how deep they are.



If a major blood vessel is hit and a lot of blood lost quickly, a person can die in a few minutes, says Michael Pashley, head of Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy at Philips Research in Briarcliff Manor, NY, one of the groups taking part in the program.

According to the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), "these internal bleeding injuries are the leading cause of death for soldiers in the battlefield," says Pashley. In light of this, DARPA is committing up to $51 million for the project over four years, to be spread among a number of different research organizations.




http://www.technologyreview.com/read...215&ch=biotech

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Cool deal.