TBI studied in lab equipped with cannon

[unhappycamper]

TBI studied in lab equipped with cannon
By Jeff Seidel - Detroit Free Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 2, 2008 11:34:45 EST

DETROIT — The doors are locked.

“Testing!” shouts Dr. Pamela VandeVord, an assistant professor at Wayne State University. She stands back, holding her hands over her ears, bracing for another explosion.

Brain research sounds like the height of academic aloofness, filled with arrogant intellectuals wearing white lab coats in a pristine environment, pondering the meaning of life while listening to Beethoven.

~snip~

The research is loud, powerful and exciting — and the topic is relevant: Wayne State has been chosen to receive a $778,000 grant to figure out why so many troops are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with brain injuries caused by roadside bombs.

So how do you simulate a roadside explosion in the middle of Detroit? You simply bring it indoors. The centerpiece of the Wayne State brain research lab is a $25,000 blast tube that looks like a 20-foot cannon.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/gns_tbistudy_080102/