Citation

Cullen DK, Xu Y, Reneer DV, Browne KD, Geddes JW, Yang S, Smith DH. Neuroimage 2011; 54(Suppl 1): S37-44.

Affiliation

Center for Brain Injury and Repair, Dept. of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 105 Hayden Hall, 3320 Smith Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.10.076

PMID

21040795

PMCID

PMC3014427

Abstract

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) is the "signature wound" of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, with no objective information of relative blast exposure, warfighters with bTBI may not receive appropriate medical care and are at risk of being returned to the battlefield. Accordingly, we have created a colorimetric blast injury dosimeter (BID) that exploits material failure of photonic crystals to detect blast exposure. Appearing like a colored sticker, the BID is fabricated in photosensitive polymers via multi-beam interference lithography. Although very stable in the presence of heat, cold or physical impact, sculpted micro- and nano-structures of the BID are physically altered in a precise manner by blast exposure, resulting in color changes that correspond with blast intensity. This approach offers a lightweight, power-free sensor that can be readily interpreted by the naked eye. Importantly, with future refinement this technology may be deployed to identify soldiers exposed to blast at levels suggested to be supra-threshold for non-impact blast-induced mild TBI.

Language: en