ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603040127
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SEATTLE
SOURCE: Seattle Times
Seattle researchers are planning to build a book-size medical device capable of producing images of severe internal injuries on battlefields or accident scenes.
Scientists at the University of Washington, Advanced Technology Laboratories of Bothell, Wash., and two other companies hope to develop the portable ultrasound machine in partnership with the Defense Department in about four years. With $12.6 million in research money, it is the largest collaboration ever between the University of Washington and a private company in Washington state.
``Its most important application is the immediate diagnosis,'' said Lawrence Crum, director of the research and principal physicist at the university's applied physics laboratory. ``On the battlefield, 40 to 50 percent of those with massive internal bleeding die within 20 minutes. If there's a way to determine this bleeding quickly, there are quick actions to take to save lives.''
Ultrasound uses sound waves and their echoes to produce images of the body's inner workings. These include organs and the speed and direction of blood flow. Advanced Technology has developed some of the most advanced ultrasound units in the world - most of them mobile, but weighing 350 to 600 pounds and about the size of an outdoor gas grill.
Crum and Jacques Souquet, Advanced Technology senior vice president, said the smaller unit under development will be able to perform the most essential functions of the larger unit. It will also be able to transmit the digital images through telephone lines or by satellite.
Besides diagnosing internal bleeding, it would show such damage as injured organs; whether blood is flowing through key vessels; and where shrapnel, bone and other objects have been driven into the body.
Researchers said the new device has the potential of being used where it may be difficult to move patients for any reason. This may include in nursing homes, doctors' offices or even private residences.
The Defense Department is providing half of the research grant, with Advanced Technology and the other companies providing the other half.
Advanced Technology is leading the industrial team, which also includes Harris Semiconductor of Melbourne, Fla., and VLSI Technology of San Jose, Calif.
LENGTH: Short : 50 linesby CNB