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High-Tech Earpiece Helps Troops Avoid Hearing Loss in War Zones
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2014-03-22 01:38:27, 조회 : 1,725 |
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High-Tech Earpiece Helps Troops Avoid Hearing Loss in War Zones
A new earpiece developed at Johns Hopkins University may help soldiers in combat dodge the most common war-related injury: hearing loss. This earpiece, the \"Anti-BLast Earplug\" (ABLE), fits atop the wearer’s ear and stays open most of the time to allow for uninterrupted hearing but closes automatically whenever an explosion erupts nearby.
Dan Simon and Paul Biermann, engineers who work in Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory, created the device from an existing commercial earplug that featured a movable valve. In the completed ABLE prototype, the valve responds to any outside explosion by deploying a plug that guards the ear cavity from the blast’s potentially eardrum-shattering pressure waves. The valve’s motion is faster than the speed of sound—necessary since blast waves are themselves supersonic—and is composed of materials that blast tests verified would withstand explosions.
The U.S. Army has been issuing earplugs to all of its troops in combat since 2002, but troops on patrol frequently skip them to better hear enemy activity. In so doing, they often fall victim to sudden ear trauma from explosions. ABLE could be a safe compromise—soldiers’ hearing will not be blocked until the instant their ears need it to be. It has performed well in recent tests, according to Simon and Biermann, who add that they hope to begin working with a government sponsor to ready the device for deployment. – Rick Docksai
Source: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
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