Forum Highlights Urgency of Hemorrhage Control

One of the most informative medical events in the Boston area, CIMIT's weekly Forum (Tuesdays at 4pm) hosts meaningful discussions about innovative devices and systems for wounded warriors and injured veterans seeking healthcare at home. Most recently Forum discussion leaders have explored topics on:

• VIDEO: The Golden Hour in Modern Combat: Different Battlefields, Same Problems
• VIDEO: Continuity in Casualty Care: The Case for Immediate Technological Improvement
• VIDEO: Traumatic Brain Injury: Clinical Trials from the Past for the Future
• VIDEO: The Role of Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Traumatic Brain Injury
• VIDEO: The Future of Simulation

At a recent Forum on January 27, two doctors upon returning from Iraq said that two urgent issues needing solutions include 1) the collection and transmission forward of pre-hospital medical data, and 2) new approaches to the early management of the bleeding patient.

See more information on upcoming CIMIT Forums.

65 Finalists Invited to Submit Full Proposals in CIMIT Grant Program – Nearly One Half Have Direct Benefit for Wounded Warriors

CIMIT received 255 submissions for its medical-research grant program. The review team of Program Leaders evaluated and ranked all proposals for novelty, and compatibility with the CIMIT Mission. Sixty-five teams have been invited to submit full proposals for evaluation and expert peer review. All CIMIT science programs are represented in the final round. Nearly half are directly applicable to the care of military personnel, particularly for combat-related injury, and propose innovations that have application at the convergence of two or more program areas. All offer “dual-use” application for soldier and civilian populations. CIMIT expects to fund roughly one third of proposals invited to participate in the final round. Announcements are expected by mid-May.

Read award announcement.

Learn more about CIMIT's civilian and military dual-use Science Programs.

 

Ross Zafonte, MD, leads CIMIT Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) & Neurotrauma Program

With an ever growing portfolio of CIMIT-supported projects in traumatic brain injury, Ross Zafonte, MD, will lead CIMIT’s effort in guiding this important area of research for the community. CIMIT’s TBI & Neurotrauma Program seeks to explore novel techniques, including systemic and focal pharmacologic regimens, applied energy from lasers and ultrasound, and neuro-technological techniques, as methods to determine the stages at which they may be best applied. This program leverages the innovations of CIMIT Neurotechnology, PTSD, and Trauma & Casualty Care Programs, recognizing that many patients suffer from combinations of conditions that require clinicians to draw on a range of specialty resources.

Learn more about the CIMIT TBI & Neurotrauma Program.

 

 

CIMIT Pursues Commercialization Strategy for COMETS and EVE

The SIM Group at CIMIT has signed a non-disclosure agreement with several manufacturers to begin licensing discussions of two simulation devices – COMETS and EVE. A tetherless, battery operated, durable, fully-armored 190-pound full-body simulator providing training in battlefield tactical care, COMETS enables first responder training in trauma care including airway management, hemorrhage control, chest trauma, CBRNE training, shock resuscitation, field management of multiple simultaneous casualties, and multi-system injury, in both conscious and unconscious configurations. View COMETS informational graphic Courtesy of The Boston Globe. Watch Video: Channel 5 Chronicle - COMETS (Video may take a moment to load.)

EVE is a real-time, high-fidelity interventional neuroradiology simulator for physician training. The system includes novel catheter and guidewire finite element models with real-time collision detection and collision response, interactive fluid dynamics of blood flow, volumetric contrast agent propagation, and high-fidelity synthetic fluoroscopic and angiographic images. The Cerebrovascular model is derived from a pre-operative CT and CTA datasets and fine-tuned for collision detection and response, this simulator is optimized for real-time performance on an affordable computer platform. View images of EVE. Learn more about the CIMIT Simulation Program. *Note: You will need the Flash Player to view video. Test whether you have the Flash Player installedor download the Flash Player.

Team Advancing Research of Asthma in Soldiers

Leading doctors and researchers including Bruce Levy, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Michael Singer, MD, of the Boston VA, and John Guttag, PhD, of MIT, are developing a remotely monitored inhaler to predict and prevent asthma attacks. Fully 1,000 military recruits are discharged per year due to asthma. Thousands more are hampered during battlefield operations. The team, which has received CIMIT support, is engaged in studies with asthma patients, and members are developing a prototype monitoring system with academic partners.

Learn more about the CIMIT Inhalation Technology Program.

 

VA Boston Healthcare System Joins CIMIT Consortium

Several collaborations are already underway with VA Boston Healthcare System, an integrated system of 3 medical centers and 6 outpatient clinics offering specialized training and research opportunities to over 1,100 Residents and fellows, 250 medical students, and 400 students in other areas of clinical practice. VA Boston joined CIMIT in the summer of 2008. Among the growing portfolio of emerging technology collaborations are novel approaches to hand hygiene, physiologic monitoring and device interoperability. Recognized as a leader in technology applications in healthcare, VA Boston becomes an invaluable research partner and offers a unique environment as a collaborator for evaluating CIMIT-supported innovations. VA BHS operates major programs in neurophysiology of mental illness, sleep disorders, diabetes, and epidemiology. It currently is the major VA referral center in New England for complex surgeries. It is also a major center for invasive cardiology and maintains large clinical programs in spinal injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Learn more about the CIMIT Consortium.

 

 

Simulation Team Chosen for ‘War and Medicine’ Exhibit in UK, Germany

Battlefield-training techniques developed by CIMIT’s Simulation Program have been exhibited in London at the Wellcome Collection, and the show is scheduled to be exhibited in Dresden, Germany, after its run in the UK ends. The Wellcome Collection is a division of Wellcome Trust, the largest charity in the country, and its exhibit is titled “War and Medicine.” Steve Dawson, MD, an interventional radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and leader of The Simulation Group, and his team are displaying the VIRGIL system, which combines the use of a life-like mannequin with a PC-based graphical interface to create a realistic training tool for medics and military doctors.

Learn more about the CIMIT Simulation Program.