Fragment penetrating injury to long bones

Abstract

High energy trauma events as seen in explosions and ballistic impact cause severe damage to the human body. The injuries are generally complex and the precise mechanism is not fully understood. Secondary blast injuries, effectively ballistic traumas, to the extremities are commonly reported, especially to the tibia. The aim of this study is to quantify the effect of parameters such as projectile mass, velocity, and impact location on the injury threshold of the leg. The bone was set in biofidelic gelatin tissue simulant; a 32-mm-bore gas gun was used to launch a carbon-steel projectile of 0.78 ± 0.01 g in mass at velocity 100 to 360 m/s. Penetration depth and impact velocity were recorded. The loading on the bone, in the standing posture was reproduced by pre-compressing the sample. Preliminary results showed that the impact velocity of 326 ± 5 m/s is approximately the threshold for the through-bone penetration of the porcine femur.