Would Face Shield Protect Soldiers from Brain Injury?

Cambridge, MAIt is heartbreaking to note that according to the US Department of Defense, upwards of 130,000 US servicemen and women deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq have sustained blast-induced traumatic brain injury from explosions in the field. However, a new study published in the November 22nd issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that the addition of a face shield fashioned from transparent armor material can significantly reduce direct blast waves, mitigating brain trauma.

The study was undertaken by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and found that the worst brain injuries are those where the blast impacted the face—the weakest link in the physiological protective shell around the brain.

"We tried to assess the physics of the problem, but also the biological and clinical responses, and tie it all together," said Raul Radovitzky, an associate professor at MIT and associate director of MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. "The key thing from our point of view is that we saw the problem in the news and thought maybe we could make a contribution."

According to the study, researchers focused on the advanced combat helmets (ACH) worn by most troops deployed in the war war-torn region. In collaboration with Dr. David Moore, a neurologist at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington DC, Radovitzky and colleagues constructed computer models and used MRI scans to simulate features in the brain in an effort to duplicate through simulation various aspects of a brain injury accident related to blast waves in a combat situation.

Three scenarios were devised: an unprotected head, protection from an ACH alone, and the use of an ACH with the addition of a face shield.

The results were revealing—and the assumed traumatic impact on an unprotected head aside, researchers found that while use of an ACH alone slightly delayed the arrival of the blast wave, the helmet failed to significantly lessen the effects of the blast on the brain.

Adding the face shield, however, was found to reduce the blast forces to the brain considerably.

Critics of the study noted that blast forces are only one component that could lead to brain injury cases. A strike to the head by a foreign object propelled by the blast is one factor not addressed by the study, or being knocked to the ground and hitting one's head.

Still, said Dr. Michael Lipton, associate director of the Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the addition of a face shield would help soldiers deal with the effects of smaller blasts that can happen on a daily basis.

"It's not uncommon for these soldiers to get exposed to multiple blast injuries without being removed from repeated [combat] exposure recognized as significant injuries," Lipton said. "Protection might even be more efficacious in repeated impacts."

Blast injuries—and specifically brain injury—are the most common injuries encountered by troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. While this research is preliminary, one can't help but wonder if soldiers devastated by traumatic brain injury that might have been mitigated by the use of a face shield, may seek help from a brain injury lawyer in a quest for additional compensation.