The war in Iraq is serving to highlight traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and now the U.S. Army awarded Simbex, of Lebanon, NH, a million-dollar contract to develop sensor-studded helmets for combat soldiers. They could reach our soldiers as early as December.

They are designed to "measure the shock from explosive devices." The most common cause of TBI is improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which emit shock waves–waves of air pressure–that travel at around 1,000 feet per second, or close to the speed of sound. While such blasts can cause devastating wounds, and even death, they can also rattle the brain’s soft tissue, causing invisible, permanent damage.

Simbex has equipped the combat helmets with sensors that measure the magnitude, location, and direction of blasts and the pressure changes that occur because of the resulting shock wave.

"There are lots of different types of injuries that can be caused by blast events," says Jeff Chu, the vice president of engineering at Simbex, "and we are only measuring two of the parameters that are most associated with shock waves and blast events: the acceleration of the body and pressure."

Robotic devices have been used in Iraq since the beginning of the war, but meet SWORDS (special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system) which are modified bomb-disposal robots designed to function in a firefight.

There is a three-part arming process with plenty of safety protocols — "So now we can kill the unit if it goes crazy" . Nice to know.

There are only three of them right now because of funding problems, and of course, we cannot know their location.