A small business has come up with an innovative way to protect US Army dogs from hearing loss on the battlefield
- Zeteo Tech, Inc., a small Maryland-based business, and Pete Scheifele, a professor and retired Navy officer, have developed a technology expected to protect military dogs from hearing loss.
- This technology called CAPS is a close-fitting hood made of lightweight, flexible acoustic absorption materials that seal around the dog's ears to prevent the loud sounds of a modern battlefield from affecting the dog's sensitive hearing.
- This technology's development was supported by a Small Business Innovation Research grant provided by the Army Research Office.
A modern battlefield can be deafening, especially for military dogs with much more sensitive hearing than a human, but a US Army small business innovation program appears to have developed a solution to help prevent these furry four-legged heroes from hearing loss.
"Even a short helicopter flight can affect a dog's hearing, resulting in impaired performance and inability to hear the handler's commands, which can hinder the mission," Stephen Lee, senior scientist at Army Research Office, said in a Wednesday press statement from the Army Research Laboratory.
Zeteo Tech, Inc., a Maryland-based operation, and Pete Scheifele, a retired Navy lieutenant commander and current professor at the University of Cincinatti, developed the Canine Auditory Protection System (CAPS), a close-fitting hood that evenly distributes pressure.
The CAPS is made from lightweight, flexible acoustic absorption materials and can seal around the animal's ears to provide additional sound reduction.
"Until now hearing protection systems available were rigid, cumbersome and hard to put on the dog, with limited effectiveness in testing for the protection of canine hearing," ARL said in Wednesday's statement.
Lee explained that this new technology has the potential to not only protect military dogs but also extend their working lives.
Military dogs have served on battlefields for centuries, with modern canines assisting with everything from patrols to explosive ordinance disposal to counterterrorism missions. One heroic military dog made headlines recently for its role in taking down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
To increase the effectiveness of these animals, the military has developed armor, goggles, gas masks, and other specialized equipment for its military dogs. The CAPS is designed to work with existing pieces of equipment.
The CAPS has, according to ARL, been extensively tested with both military dogs and law enforcement working dogs, with observers checking wearability, usability, comfort, and, most importantly, hearing protection.
Evaluations of the CAPS so far have shown that this technology has significantly reduced short-term hearing loss as a result of helicopter operations.
The development of this technology was supported by the US Army Medical Research and Development Command by way of a Small Business Innovation Research grant provided by the Army Research Office, part of US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's ARL.