MedTech I.Q.

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Colleagues,

A post forwarded from MedTechIQ Adrian and reported in the Telegraph.Co.Uk...The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has awarded £100,000 to a small company that has developed a special substance that hardens immediately on impact.

It is hoped that the shock-absorbing substance will soon be fitted onto the inside of soldiers' helmets reducing in half the kinetic energy of a bullet or piece of shrapnel and hopefully making them impenetrable.

The gel, called d3O locks instantly into a solidified form when it is hit at high impact.
The d3O gel has already expanded into a range of sporting goods and is found in ski gloves, shin guards, ballet shoe pointes and horse-riding equipment. The substance relies on "intelligent molecules" that "shock lock" together to absorb energy and create a solid pad. Once the pressure has gone they return to their normal flexible state.

The gel is stitched into clothing or equipment that is supple until it stiffens into a protective barrier on impact.

Read on at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/4862103...

ENJOY!

CC

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Replies to This Forum Entry

CC - I passed the link to your message along to two colleagues, one of whom is OCONUS, since this sounds like interesting technology. Some observations that our mutual friend and I were discussing the other day focused on body armor weight and where do you begin to hit the losing side of the risk-reward slope? If our kids are toting around 60-70 pounds of body armor in a hot environment, they're exhausted after several hours and they are far less mobile while wearing same...you've been in a MTV I'll bet. So, the question in my mind is how much weight will this stuff add to their battle gear. If the weight is reasonable it will have a positive impact on mortality and morbidity. Most of the TBI coming out of theater is blast related so I'm not sure how big the impact will be but, if it works, ballistic and shrapnel injuries should be reduced.

Doc

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