Skin in the game: Marine Raider, VA program brings new medical technology to all Americans – Connecting Vets

Marine Raider Derek Herrera hasnt let a firefight in Afghanistan that left him paralyzed dampen his passion to help improve lives.

Instead, Herrera told CBS Eye on Veterans that seven years after his injury in 2012 he established Paratroop LLC, a certified service-disabled veteran-owned small business and licensed the Habit Camera, a digital skin inspection tool through Minneapolis Adaptive Design and Engineering, part of Minneapolis VA, which brought the device to market.

Herreras story is linked with the Raiders - a small, elite unit formed in 2006 through MARSOC the Marine Special Operations Command.

The backbone of the unit is built on the legacy of Force Reconnaissance Marines, he explained.

The units name came from the Marine Raiders of World War II, which were some of the Corps first special operations units.

Herrera initially joined the Marines in 2007 as an infantry officer, deploying twice. He decided to go through the selection and training process to become a Raider and by 2012 he was a team commander leading about 20 special operators in Afghanistan tasked with village civilian operations.

Similar to what was done in Vietnam and other previous conflicts, we would operate as a team in a small and rural outpost working to turn the tide of battle, he said.

While conducting vital combat and recon operations in these remote areas, the closest US support base would often be about 50 kilometers (31 miles)away.

The way I kind of explain the situation we came into is almost similar to trench warfare in World War I, where were in the middle of the Green Zone, we have this small team and just a few miles, a few kilometers away across the river theres Taliban.

That led to numerous engagements, including one on June 14, 2012, in which Herrera wasshot and subsequently paralyzed and others wounded.

We are alive today because of the bravery and selflessness of the men who were there, he said.

Herrera was initially treated in Germany and transferred to a VA facility in Tampa, Florida, where he learned how to adapt to his injury. He also began doing his own research into spinal cord injuries.

I learned a lot about different technologies, Herrera said. The first exposure I had to technology that would change my life was a robotic exoskeleton.

Experimental at the time, the robotic system allowed Herrera to stand and walk, despite being completely paralyzed.

Fortunately, I was the first person to obtain the system once it was FDA approved here in the U.S. I was able to use the device and stand during my retirement ceremony instead of using a wheelchair, he said.

That ignited a passion within Herrera to start a business based on bringing new VA medical technology to the public, and using it to better treat a variety of health issues, potentially helping millions of people.

Im trying to leverage the experience I have firsthand as a patient to solve those problems with new technology with a business as an entrepreneur to create sustainability around it, he explained.

Herrera learned how important wound care and skin inspections are after his injury. He said the Habit Camera is the simplest way to inspect your skin in hard-to-see areas.

The idea was to take a small digital camera and put it on the end of a flexible stick, he said. It allows you to see your buttocks, your backside, your back, anywhere thats really hard to inspect.

When you see something, the camera allows you to send pictures or video by secure message to your medical provider. The camera is not just helpful to those with spinal cord injuries, but for diabetics and for early intervention for skin cancer.

After it came together I started to realize how brilliant the concept is and started to work with the VA to license it and build a company and make this a real product, he said.

Dr. John Kaplan, VA Technology Transfer Program Director, said a whole host of technologies are available for licensing and ready to be brought to market by entrepreneurs.

The whole point of tech transfer is to take government-sponsored research and spur economic development, he said. Its not only to help get products out there, its also to spur companies to have more jobs, to help the economic viability of the country.

The retail price for a Habit Camera is $149.

If $150 can save someone from nine months of being bed-ridden or in a nursing facility, were doing our job, Herrera said.

To learn more from Herrera and make skin inspection a regular habit with Habit Camera, visit here.

For information about the medical technology available for licensing to small businesses, check out the VA Technology Transfer Program here.

See all the cutting-edge tech at VAs Tech Link here.

Reach Phil Briggs at Phil@connectingvets.com. Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.

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Skin in the game: Marine Raider, VA program brings new medical technology to all Americans - Connecting Vets