ONR funds research on Blood Clot Dislodgement

The Office of Naval Research has funded our proposal on “Casualty Safe Ride Standards: A Study of Ride-induced Blood Clot Dislodgement“

The project, in collaboration with Dr. Tal Cohen (Nonlinear Solid Mechanics Lab, MIT), will focus on understanding the contributory role of transport-induced forces to blood clot dislodgement should critically determine safe ride standards. Thrombus – or blood clot – dislodgement is a significant source of morbidity and mortality in young adults following injury or surgery. That is, after blood vessels are severed during combat or surgery, exposure of blood to vascular wall proteins initiates the coagulation cascade and leads to the formation of clots. Those clots may subsequently dislodge from their site of formation and occlude vital downstream blood vessels such as those of the lung, the heart, or the brain. The objective of this work is to determine safety measures for the transport of casualties. Specifically, this work will determine the primary mechanism of blood clot dislodgement during casualty transport and the conditions at which this dislodgement occurs.