Soldiers returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq suffering from a high rate of traumatic brain injury due to exposure to explosive blasts have prompted research projects to determine exactly how brain injury occurs during an explosion in which direct impact to the head does not occur.
Researchers from the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center in Washington D.C. recently conducted research in which they ran DTI scans on soldiers ranging from completely healthy to those who suffered direct head impacts, acceleration brain injuries, and finally, nonlethal explosive blasts.
Previously, MRI and CT scans were proven ineffective at revealing and diagnosing concussions. However, researchers have recently made use of DTI scans to detect neurological damage on the level of the neural networks connecting brain cells, which scientists call the brain’s ‘white matter.’
The recent research using DTI scans showed ‘a more diffuse pattern of damage to the white matter,’ in those soldiers who had experienced non-impact brain injury from close proximity to explosions. This research demonstrates conclusively that soldiers near an explosion can indeed suffer brain damage even without any physical impact.
Common concussions arise from direct impact to the skull and from acceleration injuries as in automobile accidents. Brain injuries from explosions can cause impact and acceleration injuries, as well as a wave of rapid pressure that puts even more sudden, but invisible, impact on the brain itself.
Scientists also discovered signs of inflammation in brains exposed to explosive blast shockwaves, many months after the initial injury occurred. Another team of researchers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency found signs of brain injury in the blood, even when no other signs of injury showed up.
DTI scans, while promising in brain research, still has limits. Soldiers with shrapnel in their body are unable to undergo MRI and DTI scans due to the powerful magnetic fields inherent to the scans. Researchers hope to vastly expand the available tools for more effective and efficient diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries, especially those due to close proximity to explosive blasts.
The U.S. military is increasingly interested in understanding and more efficiently treating blast-induced brain injuries, as between 10-20% of the soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan return with concussions from explosive blasts. Military and health officials hope to see further expansion of research and treatment built upon the foundation of current research and knowledge of traumatic brain injury.
(pic from military.com)