I was worried there for a minute. Sure, the U.S. military was figuring out ways to give its troops sharks electric sensors. But would they remember to outfit the fighters with artificial gills?
I should have a little more faith. Of course they would. The Army recently handed Case Western Reserve University and Waltham, MAs Infoscitex Corp. a joint contract to start investigating a Microfabricated Biomimetic Artificial Gill System based on the subdividing regions of clef, filament, and lamellae found in natural fish gills. In the first phase of the program, gas exchange units will be designed and demonstrated for rapid, efficient extract of oxygen from surrounding water.
An advanced breathing apparatus that mimics the efficiency, simplicity, and durability of the gill-swim bladder found in fish could greatly improve human maneuverability and sustainability in both aquatic and high altitude settings, the contract announcement reminds us. Sure could.
But the synthetic gills arent the only useful item the military is funding in this years crop of Small Business Technology Transfer awards. Others include spray-on thermal coatings for “hypersonic projectiles,” “hybrid propulsion system for undersea weapons,” and, naturally, “Electromagnetic and Laser Launch Systems for Affordable, Rapid Access to Space.” (Here’s a bit of background.)
THERE’S MORE: Over in the comments, Willy Volk tells us that an Israeli inventor “has already developed a new ‘tankless’ scuba system” that’s been patented in Europe and in the U.S. IsraCast has an interview with the fellow.
|
Army Wants Synthetic Gills
« « Rapid Fire 11/10/05 | Veterans’ Day » »
Leave a ReplyBy commenting on this topic you agree to the terms and conditions of our User Agreement |
|
An Israeli inventor named Alon Bodner has already developed a new “tankless” scuba system in which users experience increased maneuverability. European patents have already been granted; approval is pending in the US.
http://www.divester.com/2005/06/02/inventing-scuba-gear-is-tankless-work/
http://www.divester.com/2005/06/07/more-on-bodners-tankless-scuba-system/
The contraption that your reader linked to uses a centrifuge, powered by a two-pound lithium battery with a theoretical one-hour life. Think about how often your laptop/ipod/cell phone/camera battery has quit unexpectedly — especially in cold conditions — and you want to take that diving?
From reading the short abstract provided on the DoD website, the researchers are copying fish to develop the most efficient membrane folding for an artificial gill. Since a passive exchange through a semi-permeable membrane would require too large an area to be practical, they are also working on an artificial means of enhancing oxygen transfer (seems possible, since artificial hemoglobin-like compounds have been developed).
Has anybody considered that to compete with the efficiency of a compressed air cylinder that under ideal conditions (oxygen saturated, 0C water) you’d have to process about 7000 gallons of water per hour at 100% efficiency) to yield the same amount of oxygen contained in an 80ft air tank?
Who thinks that a portable battery is going to be up to that challenge?
…how does Aqua Girl keep her top on when she’s swimming that fast?
hey about these gills:
can’t we take a living fish and transfer the membrane out of it to a machine?
what about that oxygenated liquid, similar to that in the movie the Abyss.