VCU news

By Mike Frontiero
VCU School of Education

A prototype device that could save lives of injured soldiers on the battlefield has been presented to scientists and United States military officials by Virginia Commonwealth University chemical engineering professor Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, Sc.D. and, Kevin Ward, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Physiology at VCU

Guiseppi-Elie, who also directs the Center for Bioelectronics, Biosensors and Biochips (C3B) in VCU's School of Engineering, attended the Department of Defense (DOD) Military Health Research Forum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "The concept of providing battlefield trauma care to improve patient outcomes was very well received," said Guiseppi-Elie. His research is funded and sponsored through a $2.8 million award from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materials Command Office's DOD Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program to support development of implantable biochips with remote powering and readout capabilities.

The biochip would monitor and transmit body levels of lactate - which change when there is a critical lack of oxygen to support their normal cell function - to a portable receiver. It would be implanted into a soldier's leg muscle to ensure accurate medical diagnosis and treatment on the battlefield where traditional medical testing and treatment capabilities are not available. "This would be especially helpful in mass casualty situations to allow for more accurate triage and treatment decisions," said Guiseppi-Elie. "Remote monitoring and recording of lactate levels would allow military health care providers to anticipate, diagnose and treat the wounded earlier and in a more efficient manner."

The technology has other potential applications, including monitoring astronauts' vital signs during long-term space flight, reading blood sugar levels in diabetics, and monitoring heart function in heart failure patients.

Participants in the study also include:
* Sean Brahim, Ph.D., co-investigator, research associate and C3B Biosensors Laboratory director.
* R. Wayne Barbee, Ph.D., co-investigator, VCU Reanimation Engineering Shock Center (VCURES) senior investigator, and assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and Physiology at VCU.
* Robert Diegelmann, Ph.D., co-investigator, senior VCURES investigator, and professor of Biochemistry and Emergency Medicine at VCU.
* Luciana Torres, M.S., research associate for VCURES and the VCU Department of Emergency Medicine.

The team is researching and developing the device for possible inclusion in an advanced war-fighting demonstration project organized by the DOD.