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 and 2 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 three 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. Blast experiments were conducted on 85 ex vivo porcine eye specimens and 13 in vivo rabbit eyes using a large diameter shock tube. The experiments were supported by numerical modeling using physics-based codes CTH and LS-DYNA. Post-blast evaluation of the porcine 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 shock tube produced a broad array of closed-globe injuries in the porcine eyes including angle recession, cyclodialysis, peripheral chorioretinal detachments, radial peripapillary retinal detachments, and internal scleral delaminations. Development of a rigorous experimental methodology as well as detailed statistical analyses gave confidence that the observed injuries were due to the effects of primary blast. Analysis of injuries to the in vivo rabbit eyes is ongoing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA612556
Entities
People
- Brian J. Lund
- Matthew A. Reilly
- Ralph D. Glickman
- Walter Gray
- William E. Sponsel
Organizations
- University of Texas at San Antonio