Sub-lethal Ocular Trauma (SLOT): Establishing a Standardized Blast Threshold to Facilitate Diagnostic, Early Treatment, and Recovery Studies for Blast Injuries to the Eye and Optic Nerve

Abstract

The report summarizes the results of tasks undertaken during Year 1 of the project Sub-lethal Ocular Trauma (SLOT): Establishing a Standardized Blast Threshold to Facilitate Diagnostic, Early Treatment, and Recovery Studies for Blast Injuries to the Eye and Optic Nerve. The 3 year effort aims to fill a gap in our understanding of physical mechanisms and progression of primary blast-induced ocular injury. A fully-integrated experimental and computational study was undertaken. Primary blast experiments were conducted using a large diameter shock tube and ex vivo porcine eye specimens. The experiments were supported by numerical modeling using physics-based codes CTH and LS-DYNA. Post-blast evaluation of eye specimens using UBM and B-scan, as well as gross dissection and detailed histopathology, allowed for preliminary development of trauma risk curves for a number of sub-globe-rupture trauma categories. The data generated in this study has increased our understanding of primary blast-induced ocular trauma. The shock tube produced a broad array of closed-globe injuries such as angle recession, cyclodialysis, peripheral chorioretinal detachments, radial peripapillary retinal detachments, and internal scleral delaminations. Development of a rigorous experimental methodology and use of pre-blast ultrasound screening gave confidence that the observed injuries were due to the effects of primary blast.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA610937

Entities

People

  • Brian J. Lund
  • Matthew A. Reilly
  • Randolph D. Glickman
  • Walt Gray
  • William E. Sponsel

Organizations

  • University of Texas at San Antonio

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Blast Injuries
  • Brain Injuries
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Explosives
  • Eye
  • Eye Injuries
  • Geometry
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Medical Personnel
  • Optic Nerve
  • Retinal Diseases
  • Shock Tubes
  • Uvea
  • Wave Propagation
  • Waveforms
  • Wounds And Injuries

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Explosive Engineering.
  • Trauma or Military Medicine
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.