KISSIMMEE, Fla. – (Aug. 26, 2024) – Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio, located at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the Department of Defense (DoD).
To showcase their research, NAMRU San Antonio personnel participated in the Directed Energy Health Effects (DEHE) Research for the Warfighter breakout session on the first day of the 2024 Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center.
The 2024 MHSRS brings together military, government, academia, and industry experts for four days of critical conversations and intensive idea sharing. Presenters will share their latest research findings and challenges on topics including combat casualty care, military operational medicine, clinical and rehabilitative medicine, medical simulation and information sciences, military infectious diseases, and the radiation
health effects.
The DEHE breakout session, moderated by NAMRU San Antonio’s Deputy Chief Science Director Cmdr. Rachel Werner, along with Defense Health Agency (DHA) Research and Engineering personnel, consisted of four presentations: Suprathreshold RF Injury Effects: Simulating Exposures Beyond the Standard, Damage Assessment and Histological Analysis of Suprathreshold Near-Infrared Laser Exposures…, Hazard Analysis for Dual Band Radar Operations, and A Digital Ophthalmoscope for the Automatic Detection of Laser Lesions.
Presenting research on Hazard Analysis for Dual Band Radar Operations was Dr. William D’Angelo, of Newington, Conn., Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio’s DEHE director.
“It was important to present our modeling on how DEHE could directly affect fleet operations afloat,” said D’Angelo. “This effort, in collaboration with our Air Force partners, demonstrated that a new and more powerful type of radar would not adversely affect aviation operations.”
According to NAMRU San Antonio’s Commanding Officer Capt. Jennifer Buechel, the breakout session was the directorate’s inaugural debut at MHSRS.
“NAMRU San Antonio, in partnership with DHA Research and Engineering and the Air Force 711th Human Performance Wing (HPW), was thrilled to have presented one of the first breakout sessions on DEHE at MHSRS,” said Buechel, a native of Woodhaven, Mich. “The findings presented will help medical providers develop diagnostic tools and clinical practice guidelines to identify and treat distinct injury patterns caused by emerging DE threats on the battlefield.”
Additionally, Buechel said the findings will assist in developing countermeasures and protecting DoD’s most important resource, the warfighter.
NAMRU San Antonio’s DEHE Directorate is comprised of three departments conducting translational medical research on the health effects of directed energy weaponry including high energy lasers and electromagnetics.
In addition to conducting comprehensive physical experimentation, the directorate develops and supports a robust modeling and simulation program to produce and evaluate test data virtually.
The directorate develops diagnostic tools to aid first responders and combat casualty care providers to treat injuries caused by directed energy sources including technologies that delineate the extent of injury, confirms the etiology, and guides in the early treatment of directed-energy wounds.
Furthermore, it establishes safety standards for training and operations by combat forces in directed-energy operating environments and develops battlefield directed-energy threat countermeasures. It evaluates directed-energy non-lethal weapon health effects, gauges effectiveness of current mitigation strategies, and develops novel protective/preventive measures.
NAMRU San Antonio’s mission is to conduct gap driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of DoD personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations. It is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Command in Silver Spring, Md.
Story originally posted on DVIDS:
NAMRU San Antonio talks Directed Energy Health Effects at 2024 MHSRS