A new centre has opened to examine and experiment with different blast biomechanics and therapeutics with the aim of developing new technologies to prevent and treat blast injuries.

The new Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London, UK, in partnership with the Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies, has begun studying treatments and prevention technologies for military personnel who are affected by blast injuries. Frequent problems associated with blast injuries include reperfusion injury, infection and blast lung, one of the most fatal cellular injuries affecting the respiratory system. The centre aims to look at these injuries in depth, evaluating epidemiological injury data and developing new tools, such as blast-resistant boots and vehicles so military personnel can decrease the likelihood of injury, amputation and mortality.

Injury therapeutics such as blast force protection are also being investigated in the hopes of avoiding infection and trauma in post-blast conditions. These studies investigate shockwaves by simulating blast effects on the body as well as study their effects on soft and hard matter.

'Previously, servicemen and women who were wounded from blasts would have died from their injuries, and now military protection, medical science and practice has improved greatly so that there is a greater prospect of survival. We now need to assess the effects of blasts on these survivors,' said Professor Anthony Bull, Director of the new centre at the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial. 'We urgently need to know more, so that we can protect and treat people more effectively. This Centre can make a real difference to the survival and quality of life of those serving in conflicts.'

To read more on the centre, click here.

Image: Blast injury, Vietnam 1967. Credit: OakleyOriginals on Flickr.