Open Call for Innovative Defense-Related Dual-Purpose Technologies/Solutions with a Clear Air Force Stakeholder Need

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion are severe injuries that affect up to 3.8 million Americans each year. TBI generally occurs when the brain is displaced beyond the cerebral spinal fluid in which it sits and crashes into the bony walls of the skull. In order to cause the displacement of the brain, there must be a terminal change in velocity reached, which can either be rotational or angular. TBI can also occur from overpressure, rapid and extreme changes in air pressure, most often created by a blast explosion and known as blast TBI or bTBI. The physiological injuries associated with TBI include not only damage and death of neural cells, but neuro-vasculature as well. The disruption of the neuro-vasculature prevents adequate blood flow to the neuronal cells, which can become depleted of oxygen, nutrients, and can eventually die via necrosis and apoptosis. All of this cellular damage is clinically associated with dizziness, severe headaches and complete loss of consciousness in the short term, as well as memory loss, depression and even suicidality in the long term.