VCURES Awarded Grant from U.S. Navy to Develop Technology to Assess Severity of Bleeding and Shock

VCURES has been awarded a $690,000, three-year grant by the U.S. Office of Naval Research to develop technology capable of determining the presence and severity of hemorrhage and injury-induced shock in wounded military personnel. Hemorrhage can lead to a state of shock, which in its initial stages starves tissues of much-needed oxygen. When severe enough, shock can lead to complications and death.

The interdisciplinary team of investigators includes:

James Terner, Ph.D., Principal Investigator and Professor of Chemistry
Kevin Ward, M.D., Co-Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Physiology
R. Wayne Barbee, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Physiology,
Roland Pittman, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology and Emergency Medicine
Rao Ivatury, M.D., Chair, Trauma Surgery and Professor of Surgery and Emergency Medicine
Mohammad Tiba, M.D., Senior Research Associate, Emergency Medicine
Ivo Torres Filho, M.D, PhD, Department of Physiology
Lucianno Torres, M.S., Department of Physiology
Bruce Spiess, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair, Anesthesiology
Fred Hawkridge, Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of Chemistry.

The monitoring strategy utilizes a combination of special low-energy laser techniques to determine how well a tissue is oxygenated. That's important because the state of oxygenation of a tissue provides sensitive data concerning the degree of blood loss and how well the body is compensating for the blood loss. Preliminary studies have demonstrated the technique to be significantly more sensitive in assessing shock than the use of vital signs such as blood pressure and heart rate.

"Contrary to popular belief, the majority of severely injured victims in shock appear to have normal blood pressures," said Dr. Ward. "Blood pressure doesn't become drastically abnormal until the body looses its ability to compensate for blood loss. There is a real need for a technology that allows emergency care providers to rapidly and accurately assess and triage an injury victim, especially in settings where there may be mass casualties and a limited supply of blood and other fluids for transfusion. This will help doctors and paramedical personnel better determine who really needs a blood transfusion right away, who needs to be taken immediately to surgery, and who can wait.

"Essentially, we are using this technology to interrogate sensitive tissues and ask, 'Are you happy with the amount of oxygenated blood you are receiving?' The information we get not only provides this answer but also how happy or unhappy the tissue is which in turn tells us how rapidly we must intervene." The technology will also have widespread application in the areas of septic shock, congestive heart failure, and wound care.

For more information on this technology, please contact Dr. Ward: krward@hsc.vcu.edu