UW 'bloodless surgery' project crucial in wartime

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Researchers at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory are working on a technique for "bloodless surgery" — a method that could cut down on battlefield casualties and revolutionize civilian medicine.

It's the latest project in the lab's efforts to help the U.S. military solve problems that troops face in wartime.

During World War II, the lab figured out how to fix unexploded torpedoes. Later, it developed equipment used in anti-submarine warfare.

Now with the nation's troops fighting a war against terrorism, the lab's work has taken on a new urgency.

The Army recently agreed to support the lab's research on bloodless surgery. The Navy has granted the lab a five-year, $78.6 million contract for research and engineering services.

"These things are crucial, especially in light of what happened Sept. 11," assistant lab director William Bakamis told The News Tribune of Tacoma.

The Applied Physics Lab is one of four university-affiliated Navy labs in the country. The others are at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Texas.

The UW's lab employs about 300 researchers, engineers and support staff on a budget of about $32 million a year from federal grants and contracts.

The lab focuses primarily on ocean physics and acoustics research. Much of its work is classified.

However, those familiar with the lab's work say it is an important military asset.

"It's one of the crown jewels up there that not many people know much about," said George Behan, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Tacoma.

Its newest project has researchers hoping that high-intensity ultrasound can be used to treat internal bleeding. Many lives could be saved if internal wounds can be cauterized with ultrasound beams rather than incisions, researchers say.

"Right now, if you're bleeding internally on the battlefield, you're dead," lab director Robert Spindel said.

Researchers at the lab and elsewhere already have had some success in studies involving animal tissue. If future human testing goes well, the new technology could also revolutionize civilian medicine.

Complications from surgery could be reduced, and paramedics could deliver lifesaving treatment to trauma patients in the crucial first minutes.

The lab was founded in 1943 at the Navy's request. The Navy was having trouble with torpedoes that didn't explode on impact.

Professor Joseph Henderson founded the lab and fixed the torpedo problem by developing a new fuse.

Since then, it has focused on marine warfare and exploration. In the 1950s, it built the first unmanned research vehicles that measure water temperature, currents and salinity.

The lab has also developed specialized sonar "cameras" that produce images of near-photographic quality that help with the detection and removal of mines.

Medical ultrasound is one example of how the lab has found civilian applications for its military research. Others include research on global warming and meteorology.

In addition to conducting research for the military, the lab does work for the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health and other nonmilitary government agencies. But Navy projects account for three-quarters of its budget.

The new Navy contract will include research in ocean physics, environmental acoustics, underwater instrumentation, marine corrosion, acoustic reconnaissance, applied oceanography, and exploders and fuses.