Malum Terminus: A US Marine Corps Simulation System for Injury Avoidance
Abstract
Musculoskeletal injuries (MSK-I) to Warfighters often result from a mismatch between an individualÕs physical abilities and the requirements of the job/duty. Majority of these injuries are non-battle injuries. These injuries cost millions of dollars annually and millions of lost-duty days, and are arguably the leading medical problem eroding military readiness. Specific to the US Marine Corps, there is a need for a comprehensive and expandable human simulation model that will help reduce injuries and decrease MSK-I health care costs through prevention and a better understanding of the mechanisms that cause injury. However, there are few, if any, sufficient modeling and simulation tools capable of addressing this issue. Physics-based models that can allow one to study the mechanisms for injuries and, thus, make appropriate behavior modifications and design effective treatment regiments, are limited. Predicting injury rates, as well as predicting injury on an individual basis, is the ultimate objective of this effort. Malum Terminus1 is a framework and associated research plan for the development of a comprehensive platform to study and simulate MSK-I. Leveraging substantial research and development by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in simulating physiology and biomechanics and the transitioning of a Future Naval Capability called Enhanced Tools for the Optimization of Warfighter Load (ETOWL), this effort will build upon these capabilities to answer important Marine-specific questions about injury and performance. The specific objectives of this proposal are as follows: (i) To reduce MSK injuries in the US Marine Corps; (ii) to enhance physical performance on an individual basis; and, (iii) To enable an open environment for researchers to import injury data and implement into the simulation. This research will seek to first establish a baseline database for injury rates gathered from studies available in the literature. It will build a broad research effort that encompasses health professionals, engineers, scientists, and military professionals to better understand and model military MSK-I injuries. The effort builds upon a significant accomplishment by ONR advancing the research over the past 5 years and delivering an effective tool for simulating the warfighter load carriage capabilities called Enhanced Tools for the Optimization of Warfighter Load (ETOWL) that was recently transitioned to the Marines. This effort will build upon the core components of ETOWL to address MSK injury prediction and ultimately injury avoidance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jun 10, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141612220
Entities
People
- Karim Abdel-malek
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Iowa