How to mitigate blast injuries - prevent TBI in Soldiers

I stumbled across a couple of great articles today concerning the addition of blast shields to the helmets Soldiers wear in combat.  The Army Combat Helmet (ACH) can be outfitted with blast shields that can imped the blast waves.  According to the article Better Helmet Design Might Lower Soldiers' Risk for Brain Injury, by Maureen Salamon, "The addition of a face shield made with transparent armor material to the advanced combat helmets (ACH) worn by most troops significantly impeded direct blast waves to the face, mitigating brain injury."

The research was conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  According to Raul Radovitzky, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, he and his research team members created computer models to simulate blast explosions to simulate the effects on brain tissue.  This all stemed from the fact little was known about how blast waves interact with the brain, or how a Soldiers' protective gear "affects the brain's response to such blasts."  This is particularly important because approximately 130,000 U.S. Servicemembers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered blast-induced TBI from explosions.

"Results revealed that without the face shield, the ACH slightly delayed the blast wave's arrival but did not significantly lessen its effect on brain tissue. Adding a face shield, however, considerably reduced forces on the brain."  Its hard to imagine something as common and as simple as motorcycle face shield being able to reduce or possible eliminate the devestating effects of a road-side bomb causing TBI in our Soldiers serving overseas.  If you would like to read more, please click on the following 2 links:

http://web.mit.edu/press/2010/brain-injuries-1123.html
and
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=122500