OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Combat Casulty care; Biotechnology The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. OBJECTIVE: To develop a computational modeling tool to simulate human blast injuries in the battle field DESCRIPTION: In the battle fields, more than 90% of the injuries are caused by blasts. The physiology and pathology of blast injuries have been thoroughly studied. Human data for blast injuries is available and ready to use. However, there is no computational modeling tool to simulate the potential injuries. US Army Research laboratory at DEVCOM has developed a tool called "Operational Requirements-based Casualty Assessment (ORCA) Model" but it is not operational. The Defense Science and Technology Laboratories (Dstl) in UK also developed a tool called human injury predictor (HIP) but it is too simple to be applied to predict comprehensive injuries in the battle fields. In DTRA Reachback, we have received numerous requests from COCOMs to model the blast injuries in different scenarios. Because of the limitation of our current capability, we are not able to answer the questions and constantly disappoint the customers. It is therefore, urgent to develop a modeling tool or system to predict the blast injuries in order to support the warfighters. NATO has established a group to push this effort but the funding from NATO is very limited. We would like to make this proposal to send a signal to the acquisition community to be aware of this urgent request. PHASE I: Phase I will focus on the model framework formation. Offerors should be able to understand the types of weapons, principle of the blasts, basic knowledge of human physiology and anatomy. Battle field or weapon testing experience is preferred. By the end of phase I, a GUI and premodel should be created and ready for next-step development. All the challenges should be clearly recorded in this phase in order to find solutions in the phase II. PHASE II: Phase II will finish the construction work of the model. Data analysis, data input, testing and validation will be the major tasks in phase II. By the end of phase II, offerors should provide a package or system for the customers to use. The GUI will be further modified based on the end-user requests. The output should be validated by testing data and publication. The developer should work closely with DTRA Reachback personnel to test the system. Meanwhile, the developer should invite Command Surgeons and other medical staff to review the model to make sure that the model meets the military operational requirements. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: In phase III, the offeror should refine the model based on the feedback from the Command Surgeons and other customers. The data need to be updated according to the newest research. Maintenance and update will be performed in phase III. REFERENCES: 1. Physics and Physiology Based Human Body Model of Blast Injury and Protection.https://www.sbir.gov/content/physics-and-physiology-based-human-body-model-blast-injury-and-protection-0; 2. A Human Body Model for Computational Assessment of Blast Injury and Protection.https://www.sbir.gov/node/401733; 3. Experimental platforms to study blast injury. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6581094/; 4. SIMULATING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY IN VITRO: DEVELOPING HIGH THROUGHPUT MODELS TO TEST BIOMATERIAL BASED THERAPIES. https://blastinjuryresearch.health.mil/; 5. Simulation of blast lung injury induced by shock waves of five distances based on finite element modeling of a three-dimensional rat. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-40176-7; 6. Localizing Clinical Patterns of Blast Traumatic Brain Injury Through Computational Modeling and Simulation. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.547655/full; 7. Computational modeling of human head under blast in confined and open spaces: primary blast injury. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cnm.2590; 8. DOD-Funded Researcher Studies the Impact of Primary Blast Injuries on the Eye. https://www.eyeresearch.org/events/AEVR_Defense_Briefing_2013; 9. Numerical Simulation of Primary Blast Brain Injury. https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/handle/10161/6148; 10. Protecting Warfighters from Blast Injury.https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/protecting-warfighters-from-blast-injury; 11. Multi-scale Modeling of Trauma Injury. https://safe.menlosecurity.com/doc/docview/viewer/docN460C2D96D4A15f1662eabca807aa7063ed8351d624a6a3d835f7bdc24b841041cf7ee177d522; 12. Building and validating a model of human blast traumatic brain injury: a hybrid computational and experimental approach. https://safe.menlosecurity.com/doc/docview/viewer/docN460C2D96D4A1d83b1b981122f37e4529a40c914d71d1e784b944a6541cb33d665d92c1f4ed9a; 13. Framework for Modeling and Simulation of Human Lethality, Injury, and Impairment from Blast-Related Threats. https://safe.menlosecurity.com/doc/docview/viewer/docN460C2D96D4A1459dd86a43adab8605b2f9a3d0cbac0b6dcdedf7a66f4ec258c90faca9d99d31; 14. Understanding blast-induced neurotrauma: how far have we come? https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/10.2217/cnc-2017-0006; 15. Review of blast injury prediction models .https://safe.menlosecurity.com/doc/docview/viewer/docN460C2D96D4A1bf203cc70ca924ff447610f6f6f86eaf5f1965f7031c3af1857e0c32f6790cea; 16. Blast Overpressure Induced Pulmonary and Intestinal Damage is Ameliorated by Post-injury Decay Accelerating Factor Injection. https://www.heraldopenaccess.us/openaccess/blast-overpressure-induced-pulmonary-and-intestinal-damage-is-ameliorated-by-post-injury-decay-accelerating-factor-injection; KEYWORDS: Blast injuries; human medical treatment
