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Can Synbone® cylinders and deer femurs reproduce ballistic fracture patterns observed in human long bones?

Schwab, Nathalie, Jordana, Xavier, Soler, Joan, Garrido, Xavier, Brillas, Pedro, Savio, Andrés, Lavín, Santiago, Ortega-Sánchez, Marisa +1 more·2023·Journal of Materials Science
DOI 10.1007/s10853-023-08333-6
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Abstract

Whereas gunshot injuries in human craniums have been well studied, reliable data on fracture patterns in ballistic long bone trauma remains scarce. Further information useful for forensic trauma interpretation and reconstruction may be retrieved from experimentally produced gunshot fractures. In order to avoid the use of human specimens for experimental research, it is of great interest to determine whether alternative models can reproduce the ballistic fracture patterns of human long bones. To address this question, we shot seven healthy adult human femurs and humeri each, ten samples each of two different polyurethane cylinders from Synbone ® and four femurs from female red deer. The specimens were embedded in ballistic gelatin and perpendicularly shot from a distance of 2 m, using a 9-mm full metal jacket projectile at an impact velocity of 360 m/s. The macroscopical appearance of the detailed fracture pattern considering entry, exit and general cortical traits as well as the bullet’s energy lost upon impact were compared between the models. Despite some general similarities, neither of the two alternative models entirely reproduced the fracture patterns of human long bones. Comparing the two alternative models, the surrogate model revealed more significant differences to the human fracture than the animal model. This leads to the conclusion that the polyurethane material provides a different failure mechanism than real bone, underpinning the challenge in deploying an accurate analog.

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  • Studies on human long bones are starting to shift from a general description and focus on the fractures' pathophysiology or the ballistic variables towards a more detailed assessment of macroscopic fracture characteristics themselves.

    “Studies on human long bones are starting to shift from a general description and focus on the fractures’ pathophysiology or the ballistic variables towards a more detailed assessment of macroscopic fracture characteristics themselves [3,5,10].”

    From Osteonal Damage Patterns from Ballistic and Blunt Force Trauma in Human Long Bones (2024) · cites this paper as [10]

  • In ballistic trauma, fracture patterns are linked to the energy transferred by the bullet and the bullet's material characteristics, kinetic energy, impact profile, deformation/fragmentation, as well as the biological characteristics of the target tissue.

    “In ballistic trauma, fracture patterns are linked to the energy transferred by the bullet when impacting, penetrating, and perforating the bone and the bullet’s material characteristics, kinetic energy, impact profile, and deformation/fragmentation as well as the biological characteristics of the target tissue (elasticity, density and cohesiveness) [9,10].”

    From Osteonal Damage Patterns from Ballistic and Blunt Force Trauma in Human Long Bones (2024) · cites this paper as [10]

  • Animal bones do not have the same biomechanical properties and fracture production as human bone.

    “Caution should be taken when interpreting findings from animal bones as they do not have the same biomechanical properties and fracture production as human bone [5,10,36].”

    From Osteonal Damage Patterns from Ballistic and Blunt Force Trauma in Human Long Bones (2024) · cites this paper as [10]

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Authors
Schwab, N., Jordana, X., Soler, J., Garrido, X., Brillas, P., Savio, A., Lavín, S., Ortega-Sánchez, M., & Galtés, I.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Materials Science
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-03
Volume
58
Issue
11
Pages
4970-4986
ISSN
  • 0022-2461
  • 1573-4803
DOI
10.1007/s10853-023-08333-6
Cited by
10
References
0
Language
en
Licence
Funders
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

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