By Craig Boerner
Vanderbilt researchers are using BIHF — a Biofidelic Instrumented Head Form — to study the impact of blast exposures in the military, an idea that could translate to research in other areas, including contact sports such as football and hockey.
Soldiers often come away from routine training exercises with symptoms the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports as a mild traumatic brain injury — balance problems, forgetfulness, blurred vision and hearing challenges.
The military was interested in finding ways to reduce impact on the brain by developing strategies that could be employed during training exercises. This need, together with other needs of U.S. Army soldiers, led to the development of an educational partnership agreement, according to Tonia Rex, PhD, professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and a member of the Faculty Advisory and Leadership Council of the Vanderbilt University Institute of National Security.
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Rex and her research partner Doug Adams, Daniel F. Flowers Professor of Engineering and executive director of the Institute of National Security, are very excited about the potential applications of BIHF — and how it could be applied to sports, construction and even mining.
“Because we have had a unique opportunity to collaborate closely with the incredible experts in the 160th, we have been able to identify strategies for reducing the aircrew’s exposure to these forces,” Adams said. “Together with the 160th and Dr. Rex, we used an aircraft to construct a realistic test facility in the lab so that we could evaluate all these strategies and identify the best approach.”
The program, known as Pathfinder, is a collaboration of the U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory and the Civil-Military Innovation Institute, designed to partner soldiers with academic researchers to promote tactical innovation. This effort includes the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt faculty. The Vanderbilt collaboration, one of the first such Pathfinder collaborations in the country, utilizes both neuroscience and engineering to understand the blast environment and potential health effects on the brain.