Company: SCRA, Charleston, SC
Company Description: SCRA is a global leader in applied research and commercialization services with its headquarters in South Carolina. SCRA collaborates to advance technology, providing knowledge-based solutions with assured outcomes to industry and government, with the help of research universities in SC, the US and around the world.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Tech Innovation of the Year - At Organizations With Up to 1,000 Employees

Nomination Title: SCRA Prosthetic Cooling Liner

Tell the story about this nominated achievement since January 1 2012 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

In recent years, many of our men and women in uniform have suffered traumatic injuries resulting in amputation. They are forced to face many adjustments and learn to live a new way of life. One of the most difficult changes is learning how to live with a new arm or leg. As advanced as prosthetic technology has become, there are still imperfections resulting overheating, which make the prosthetic limbs hot, painful and tender, resulting in an uncomfortable fit and preventing the wearer from obtaining the highest functional level from their device. In worst cases, the effects of overheating can force users to cease use of their prosthetics systems, which drastically impacts the ability to maintain functionality. This is more than a comfort issue; overheating affects the ability of amputees to move forward with their lives. So, what can we do to change this?

SCRA Applied R&D has developed an Active Cooling Liner, which has demonstrated the ability to address the problems of overheating in prosthetic devices. Initial patient evaluation has shown that the system is capable of maintaining patient functionality by reducing the temperature of the residual limb.

The system relies on Liquid Carbon Dioxide, which is placed in flexible lines in close proximity to the residual limb. Liquid CO2 provides a large temperature gradient to the residual limb, which provides a large driving force for energy transfer. Further, the lines are comfortably placed just three millimeters from the residual limb, which means the distance that energy must move is greatly reduced. The result is that the rate of heat transfer from the residual limb is significantly increased over the normal prosthetic system. 

In initial studies, conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the system was shown to provide clinically relevant levels of cooling during moderate exercise.  Of the average temperature rise caused by walking on a treadmill for 10 minutes, 90% was eliminated by use of the Active CO2 Cooling Liner.  Additionally, the time required to cool the limb back to the ‘baseline’ temperature was decreased from two hours to 15 minutes. 

Based upon this impressive evaluation, SCRA Technology Ventures is determining the best ways to optimize the system and deliver it to the market place, where the technology can make the biggest impact on the quality of life for amputees. We are hopeful that this remarkable innovation will help our returning soldiers have a better quality of life.

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Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader of this nominated organization:

Dr. Norfolk is a Program Manager of SCRA Applied R&D. His primary responsibilities include management of the Prosthetics & Orthotics Manufacturing Initiative (POMI) and the Army Advanced Materials and Technologies (AAMT) contract.

Prior to joining SCRA Applied R&D, Chris worked as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the US Army Research Laboratories in the Materials Applications Branch at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.  He currently holds an appointment to the faculty of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Clemson University, where he serves as an Assistant Adjunct Professor and instructor.

He has published multiple journal articles, co-authored technical reports for the Army and Navy, and has presented his research at multiple conferences, as well as serving as organizer, session chair, and panel member for various conferences. 

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