Survey of Occupational and Environmental Exposure Monitoring Solutions.

INTRODUCTION: Service members are exposed to ambient airborne pollutants that have been linked to adverse health effects; however, capabilities to identify and characterize exposures across multi-domain operations are currently lacking. Occupational and environmental exposure monitoring is problematic because there is not a single simple solution, and current technological limitations suggest that simultaneous deployment of multiple devices may be the most effective near-term strategy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A broad industry scan of wearable, handheld, or portable occupational and environmental exposure monitoring devices was conducted, and subject matter experts were interviewed about the state of the field. RESULTS: This survey identified limitations including the inability to detect multiple analytes or analyte classes, size and weight, and detection limits, but multiple implementation strategies could be employed to meet a variety of combat needs. Device types could be layered, or specific device types could be deployed in acute toxic exposure environments such as dense urban population centers or subterranean spaces. CONCLUSIONS: Evolving technologies and data management strategies may advance personal exposure monitoring in the future. These new devices and methods will likely supplant current technologies, while still using the programmatic and data framework established with early implementation of current commercial off the shelf devices.

The development of minimally invasive continuous Metabolic Monitoring Technologies in the U.S. Army TMM Research Program.

The Technologies for Metabolic Monitoring and Julia Weaver Fund Research Program (TMM) promotes the development of minimally invasive, innovative technologies for the monitoring and assessment of metabolic changes that are important to the management of diabetes. This program also promotes the advancement of biological monitoring technologies for healthy individuals operating in extreme environments, such as soldiers and astronauts. These technologies have focused on measurements of analytes in interstitial fluids and functional outcomes related to glucose regulation. TMM investigators have advanced new sensing methods and are working to overcome technological barriers to long-term implants. This paper reviews the current goals, research areas, and future direction of the program.

Structural and functional alterations of the gastrointestinal tract following radiation-induced injury in the rhesus monkey.

A severe and debilitating diarrhea is a dose-limiting toxic result for patients receiving abdominal radiation or chemotherapy. To correlate changes in intestinal structure and function, nonhuman primates were exposed to 9.5 Gy total abdominal x-irradiation. Diarrhea and weight loss were correlated with intestinal crypt and villus histology, in vivo assessed intestinal permeability, and ex vivo functional studies performed in Ussing chamber assays before and at 7, 14, and 35 days after irradiation. Peak gut structural damage occurred early and paralleled functional changes of the intestinal mucosa, including increased epithelial permeability (both in vivo and ex vivo), activation of secretory pathways, decreased nutrient absorption, diarrhea, and weight loss. Recovery of gut integrity and epithelial resistance began thereafter, in spite of incomplete histological recovery. Our integrated approach allowed a comprehensive study of the relationship between postirradiation tissue injury and changes in function over time in the gastrointestinal tract of the nonhuman primate.