LUNA INNOVATIONS INCORPORATED — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: DHA191-011

Description

Over 50,000 American warfighters had been wounded in action in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom with over 1,500 requiring major limb amputations. Warfighters and first responders must have proper tools for pain management during prolonged field care, allowing rapid stabilization and extraction while mitigating chronic pain effects. Recent studies indicate that magnetic fields can produce temporary nerve conduction blockage that could employed on pain signaling. However, the size of current generators and applicators and the power required for non-optimized energy delivery prohibits a portable system for far-forward treatment. To address the need for a portable magnetic field device for pain inhibition, Luna proposes to develop the Luna MagAid. MagAid will be designed to deliver electrical energy into an applicator coil to produce a magnetic field within the targeted tissue. The magnetic field induces an electric field that can cause action potential blocking mechanisms in peripheral nerves exposed above critical fields. Luna and the assembled team are uniquely qualified to employ computational and experimental studies throughout all phases to iteratively design the generator and electrode applicators, resulting in a purpose built device that will meet all biological and end-user requirements and will demonstrate efficacy for up to 72 hours.