Shining light on trauma care

When someone suffers a devastating injury - whether from a roadside blast, a car accident or a house fire - seconds matter. Doctors need to know instantly what damage has been done and how best to treat it. At UC Irvine's Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic, researchers are developing new tools to give physicians exactly that kind of real-time insight - using beams of light.

Thanks to a $7.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense's Air Force Office of Scientific Research, a team led by biomedical engineering professor Bernard Choi, acting BLI director, is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in trauma medicine. The three-year initiative, officially titled "Advanced Optical Technologies for Defense Trauma and Critical Care," spans six interconnected projects. Together, they aim to bring light-based diagnostics and therapies out of the lab and into the hands of doctors treating the most urgent cases.

A 30-year evolution

The Defense Department's investment in medical photonics isn't new. It stretches back more than three decades, when BLI founder and seminal biological and laser researcher Michael Berns helped pioneer the Medical Free Electron Laser Program in the early 1990s. Originally focused on how high-powered lasers interacted with tissue, the program has since evolved into today's Military Medical Photonics Program, with an emphasis on trauma and critical care.

What's different now is the urgency and practicality. The projects under Choi's leadership are designed not just for theoretical advances, but to solve "DoD-defined medical technology gaps" on the battlefield - needs that often mirror challenges in civilian hospitals.

Lighting the way in trauma medicine

The six projects under the current center grant cover a wide range of medical crises:

• Airway injuries from smoke or toxic gas inhalation, where high-speed optical imaging can detect early signs of injury and monitor therapy deep in the airways.
• Burns from thermal, radiation, and directed energy exposure, where light can help assess severity and guide very early treatment.
• Hemorrhagic shock, a life-threatening condition when blood loss pushes the body toward collapse. Optical sensors could allow doctors to detect it before it becomes irreversible.
• Lactate acid, a metabolic indicator of severity of injury, can be continuously monitored by a miniature light-based sensor to assess a patient's condition, need for critical support and response to treatment.
• Traumatic brain injury, where monitoring blood flow in the brain can inform lifesaving interventions.
• Compartment syndrome, a painful swelling in the limbs after injury that can cut off circulation and seriously injure muscle function-detected noninvasively using light.
• Compact field-deployable laser surgical device for debridement of complex soft tissue wounds.

"The goal is to give clinicians fast, accurate, and noninvasive ways to see what's happening inside the body during trauma care," Choi says. "That benefits not only military medicine but civilian patients as well."

"The goal is to give clinicians fast, accurate, and noninvasive ways to see what's happening inside the body during trauma care. That benefits not only military medicine but civilian patients as well," says Bernard Choi of the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic. Steve Zylius / UC Irvine

From lab to real life

Not all of these technologies are years away from application. Some are already making their way into hospitals. One standout is Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging, a technique that maps tissue health using patterns of projected light. SFDI has been commercialized through Modulim, a Costa Mesa-based medical technology company that grew directly out of Beckman Laser Institute research.

Today, Modulim's devices are being used to monitor tissue health in patients with diabetes and vascular disease, helping prevent dangerous ulcers and amputations. It's a prime example of how defense-funded research can translate into tools that improve everyday healthcare.

The bigger picture

For Choi and his team, the progress is steady and encouraging. "We keep making progress, and the Defense Health Agency seems to be pleased with our work," he says.

Ultimately, the promise of optical technology is its ability to deliver quick, precise, and actionable data - without invasive procedures. Whether on the front lines of combat or in the emergency room of a community hospital, that information can mean the difference between life and death.

What started as an exploration of powerful lasers decades ago is now reshaping the future of trauma medicine. With continued support from the Department of Defense and partnerships with industry, UC Irvine's scientists are proving that sometimes, the best way to heal is to shine a light.

Generative AI assisted in the writing of this story.