Researchers seek ways to reduce battlefield amputations, identify heart attacks early

A Kansas scientist has developed a device to stabilize fractures during battle in the hopes of cutting down the number of amputations needed. Meanwhile, St. Jude researchers have launched a study of a new heart defibrillator.

McClatchy / The Wichita Eagle: Kansas Researcher Seeks To Reduce Amputations From Battlefield Bone Breaks
A $1.4 million grant from the Department of Defense for the research and development of a device to stabilize fractures on the battlefield has a lot of commercial potential as well, officials from the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University and the Center of Innovation for Biomaterials in Orthopaedic Research said Wednesday. NIAR and CIBOR announced Wednesday that they had received the grant, which is aimed at developing a composite device that will stabilize serious fractures while reducing the number of amputations that follow such injuries sustained in combat (Siebenmark, 9/1).

(Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) Star Tribune: St. Jude Evaluating Device That Gives Early Alert To Heart Attacks
St. Jude Medical Inc. has launched a large U.S. clinical study with a heart defibrillator that can give doctors and patients warning signals of a possible heart attack. The company's Fortify device has a mechanism to monitor the ST segment -- or the electrical changes between heartbeats -- which it can transmit to health care professionals. These changes can serve as an early warning to doctors that a patient may be at risk of suffering a heart attack, said Dr. Mark Carlson, St. Jude's chief medical officer (Moore, 8/31).