DSO is developing technologies that will radically transform battlefield medical care, including the development of mobile trauma stabilization capabilities through the integration of tele-robotic and robotic medical systems, the discovery of new therapeutics for pain control and other battlefield indications, and novel techniques for the generation and storage of blood products.

DSO has developed a suite of programs aimed at restoring full physical and cognitive function to injured warfighters, even after they have experienced significant traumatic injuries. Technologies are under investigation to fully restore complex tissues (muscle, nerves, skin, etc.) after traumatic injury, and most dramatically, to develop neural-controlled upper extremity prostheses that fully recapitulate the motor and sensory functions of a natural limb.

DSO is developing technologies to allow our highly skilled and impeccably trained warfighters to maintain their peak physical and cognitive performance despite the harsh conditions of combat. Some of the conditions that threaten peak performance include acute and chronic sleep deprivation, intake of inadequate quantity and quality of calories, heat and cold stress, muscle fatigue, and data overload.

Nature has evolved truly remarkable capabilities that, if properly understood, would create significant new defense capabilities. DSO's efforts focus on understanding, and then emulating, the unique locomotion and chemical, visual, and aural sensing capabilities of animals. Efforts include developing a highly efficient, human-powered swimming device that uses the same oscillating foil approach to swimming that is exhibited by many fish and aquatic birds, and understanding the precise transformations that occur throughout the visual pathways and elucidating the mechanisms for visual scene processing in the brain.