Development of a Rapid and Accurate Blood Volume Analyzer for Combat Casualty Care

Hemorrhage remains the number one cause of death on the battlefield and is a leading cause of preventable death in military and civilian trauma. Rapid identification of clinically significant blood loss and detection of ongoing blood loss are critical combat casualty care requirements. Objective BV determination is a promising diagnostic tool that could accurately direct resuscitation and triage decision-making as well as aid in judicious use of fluids and blood products in austere environments. While critically important, rapid and quantitative BV determination is currently impossible in these environments, and medics must rely upon surrogate parameters such as blood pressure, hematocrit, and heart rate. These surrogate methods have been proven to be inaccurate or even misleading, resulting in preventable morbidity and mortality. A novel approach is proposed that positions an optical fiber probe within a functioning intravenous catheter to measure the reflectance of an injected tracer. The tracer dilution and elimination rate are then used to calculate BV. The small and ruggedized device will initially be developed for far forward and first responder settings to inform triage and immediate therapeutic decisions. Future innovations will include spectrophotometer miniaturization, expanded metabolite tracking, communication capabilities, and additional sensor integration.