ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - Army scientists are replicating skin and bone tissue to study the effects of radiation, driving the development of advanced protective gear to enhance Soldier safety.
Electromagnetic radiation from devices like radar and communication networks are potentially harmful to the human body, especially the nervous system.
To understand the potential effects of exposure on humans, researchers need to empirically measure how they penetrate tissue without using live tissue.
An effort by researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory and student interns from the Energetics Technology Center focuses on simulating surrogate materials that replicate the electrical properties of skin, brain and bone so that they can be used for measurements in different environments.
“To better protect the warfighter, DEVCOM ARL is investing in the design of model tools and materials for the neuroscientific study of tissues,” said Dr. Dave Hairston, ARL neuroscientist. “By developing techniques to replicate human skin, bone and neural tissue, Army scientists can safely analyze the biological impacts of extreme battlefield threats—such as radiation exposure. This fundamental research directly informs the design and material composition of advanced protective equipment for our Soldiers.”
Most work creating tissue surrogates focuses on their mechanical properties, commonly for ballistics or stretch testing, the researchers said. ARL and ETC researchers are taking a unique approach that re-creates how electromagnetism interacts with the skin or skull.
According to Hairston, to be effective, the materials must react to electromagnetic fields similar to live tissue and have similar mechanical properties, which is why they are experimenting with methods that allow researchers to simulate different types of tissue, both hard like bones and soft like the skin or brain.
The researchers’ new formulations include materials that stabilize water content and are shelf-stable at room temperature for months at a time while maintaining their electrical properties.
Previous materials used for simulating soft tissues in this manner tended to dry out or required refrigeration or special preservation, creating a shelf-life and usability problem.
In addition, natural bone has unique electromagnetic and structural properties that are difficult to replicate with standard materials like metals or plastics.
The researchers solved this by using a new computer program and 3D resin printing to create a bone-like material with precise, artificial pores. By filling these pores with conductive gels, they can customize and control each of the material's properties individually.
“Current research and development on electromagnetic transmission or biological impact is inhibited by not having proper testing fixtures,” said Chris Sinks, ARL bioengineer. “These tissue surrogates allow for rapid, efficient and repeatable testing of the bioeffects and safe exposure limits of current and next-generation radio frequency systems used for communication or detection. They are also accelerating the research pipeline and providing a more accurate and efficient means for experimentation and understanding safe exposure limits.”
The researchers stated that these materials can also be used for testing health monitoring devices like shirt or helmet-based sensors, providing further support to the safety and health of our Soldiers.
“We believe that this work will help increase the safety of not only our Soldiers but for anyone who uses electromagnetic-emitting devices, whether on the battlefield, medical equipment, telecommunications or even health improvement,” Hairston said. “Personally, this is very important and gratifying to know that we are directly involved in safety of our Soldiers and civilians alike.”
The next step for this research effort is combining the independent tissue simulants together to make complete, multi-part realistic head models that include both porous bone and soft skin/brain components. These complete models will then be used for scientific testing of various kinds of energy to set safety limits and guide design of better protective warfighter equipment.
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DEVCOM ARL is the Army’s sole fundamental research laboratory serving as the nexus of science between the military, academia and industry. Operating under U.S. Army Futures and Concepts Command and the U.S. Army Transformation and Training Command, ARL executes globally recognized research to accelerate delivery of war-winning, disruptive technologies for tomorrow’s Army.
For information, visit the Army Research Laboratory website.
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