Contact: Ellen Bank
843.792.2626
May 9, 2002
CHARLESTON, SC -- The Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today that it has awarded the Medical
University of South Carolina (MUSC) a Phase I/II contract to develop a
portable brain stimulation device for use by the military to alleviate
the effects of sleep deprivation on soldiers' performance. The
contract, entitled Creating a Man-portable Transcranial Magnetic
Stimulation System (TMS) to Improve War-fighter Performance, was awarded
to Mark S. George, M.D., and Daryl E. Bohning, Ph.D., both of MUSC. The
project has the potential of revolutionizing warfare and has important
other military and non-military applications.
The overall goal of the project is to use the unique resources
at MUSC's Brain Stimulation Laboratory and Center for Advanced Imaging
Research to determine if:
1. non-invasive stimulation of the brain can improve a soldier's
performance,
2. and then design, manufacture and test a prototype of a system
that would be capable of delivering this technology in the field.
"If we are successful," said Mark George, M.D., contract
principal investigator and director of the Brain Stimulation Laboratory
at MUSC, "the U.S. military would have the theoretical background of
how to use this system to improve soldier performance, and a proven,
tested prototype of a system that can be carried to the next level of
testing."
MUSC researchers will use functional imaging of how the brain
solves complex tasks, and then apply non-invasive brain stimulation to
determine if one can boost performance, either at baseline or following
several days of sleep deprivation. Several recent studies have hinted
that this may be possible. The contract is part of a nationwide program
conducted by DARPA to improve soldiers' performance after several days
of little to no sleep.
If MUSC researchers determine that brain stimulation can
temporarily improve performance, then they are charged with designing
and then building helmets that could be worn by pilots or soldiers in
combat.
"This award is a tribute to the innovative work being conducted
by Dr.George and his colleagues," said
MUSC president Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D. "When we created the
Center for Advanced Imaging Research with Dr. George as director, our
goal was to promote this type of cutting edge work. We are delighted to
build a collaborative relationship with DARPA and hope that it will grow
in the years ahead."
"We are very excited about this work, and that we can carry it
out here in South Carolina," said George, who is also distinguished
professor of psychiatry, radiology and neurology at MUSC. "Although
this work -- trying to improve soldiers' performance -- is not
directly related to improving health, it has the potential for helping
us in our other work in understanding how to use brain stimulation to
treat diseases like depression and ParkinsonŐs disease. Also, if we
can safely improve the performance of sleepy soldiers, then there are
lots of other potential applications in our society where this might be
useful."
About TMS -- The system will use the principle of transcranial
magnetic stimulation (TMS) to stimulate regions of the brain affected by
sleep deprivation. George has received international recognition for
his development of this technique to treat depressive illness.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation involves placing an electromagnetic
coil on the scalp. High-intensity current is rapidly turned on and off
in the coil through the discharge of capacitors. This produces a
time-varying magnetic field that lasts for about 100 to 200
microseconds. The magnetic field has a strength of approximately 40,000
times the earth's magnetic field. The proximity of the brain to the
time-varying magnetic field makes current flow in neural tissue. The
technological advances made in the last 15 years led to the development
of magnetic stimulators that produce sufficient current in the brain to
result in neuronal depolarization.
About DARPA -- DARPA is the central research and development
organization for the Department of Defense (DoD). It manages and directs
selected basic and applied research and development projects for DoD,
and pursues research and technology where risk and payoff are both very
high and where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional
military roles and missions. The DARPA mission is to develop
imaginative, innovative and often high-risk ideas offering a significant
technological impact that will go well beyond the normal evolutionary
developmental approaches; and, to pursue these ideas from the
demonstration of technical feasibility through the development of
prototype systems.
About MUSC -- The Medical University of South Carolina's
mission is to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina and
beyond through education, research and health care. Located on the
Charleston peninsula, the university educates students from across the
state and beyond. It provides primary care services for the local
community and serves as a referral center for specialized care for
patients from across the state, the nation and the world.
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