REVEALED: US Army is developing a briefcase-sized device that turns dirty ‘ditch water’ into a one-liter bag of life-saving IV fluid in roughly six minutes
- The US Army is building a device that turns ground water into intravenous fluid
- The device is now a working prototype and about the size of a briefcase
- Water is injected with a concentration made of sodium, potassium and calcium
- The mixture is then filtered through tubes and transforms into the medical fluid
- The developers say the process takes about six minutes to make a one-liter bag
Intravenous fluid is necessary during war, but supplies can easily run out or soldiers who need medical attention may be too deep on the battlefield to receive treatment.
With this in mind, the US Army has teamed up with a Colorado-based research firm to design a ‘game-changing’ system that transforms ‘ditch water’ into the life-saving fluid.
A new briefcase-sized device, called the Lactated Ringer’s Solution Generator, is capable of making a one-liter bag of the medical solution from ground water in just six minutes.
Water is injected with a sterile concentrate of sodium, potassium and calcium, and the mixture is filtered into IV bag where it becomes ‘the correct concentration.’
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The US Army has teamed up with a Colorado-based research firm to design a ‘game-changing’ system that transforms ‘ditch water’ into the life-saving fluid
The Lactated Ringer’s Solution Generator is currently in the prototype phase and is a collaboration between the US Army Medical Materiel Development and TDA Research and is funded through the Defense Health Agency’s Small Business Innovation Research program.
The idea is to produce portable, sterile Ringers Lactate, or lactated Ringer’s (LR) solution, which is the sodium, potassium and calcium combination.
This solution is vital for military medics in a war zone, as it treats dehydration, wounds and injuries.
The new device is easily carried, weighing just 11 pounds and measuring 18 inches tall and 10 inches wide – it is also only six inches deep inside the casing.
A new briefcase-sized device, called the Lactated Ringer’s Solution Generator, is capable of making a one-liter bag of the medical solution from ground water in just six minutes
Austin Langdon, assistant product manager for the LR Solution Generator program within USAMMDA’s Warfighter Deployed Medical Systems Project Management Office, said: ‘Without question, this small device will dramatically reduce the Army’s logistical footprint of having to ship and store lactated Ringer’s solution, which is the fluid of choice for resuscitation if blood is not available on the battlefield.’
‘This unit can make LR solution from practically any water source, including ditch water.’
TDA Research has been working on the LR Solution Generator since 2018 and recently showcased a working prototype.
Girish Srinivas, CEO of TDA Research, told Military.com: ‘We created this just for the Army.’
‘The source water flows through this device and there is [a lactated Ringer’s] concentrate that is injected and the source water ends up going through filters into an IV bag and ends up making the correct concentration of LR in IV bags.’
Water is injected with a sterile concentrate of sodium, potassium and calcium, and the mixture is filtered into IV bag where it becomes ‘the correct concentration.’ The device will allow medics to adm
The LR generator runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion cell that can produce more than 30 bags of LR solution from a single charge.
‘Army leadership is continually seeking ways to reduce the logistical strain of getting much-needed resources to the frontline and far forward in Multi-Domain Operations,’ said Langdon.
‘Products such as the LR Solution Generator are far-forward-leaning solutions that can help us think outside of our normal parameters of operation.
‘This device, and others like it, will bring forth new innovation that will change our standard of operation and secure our valuable resources.’
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