Citation

Pannucci CJ, Cyr AJ, Moores NG, Young JB, Szegedi M. J. Forensic Sci. 2018; 63(2): 571-576.

Affiliation

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.13589

PMID

28683519

Abstract

This ballistics study examines whether saline breast implants can decrease tissue penetration in firearm injuries. We hypothesize that the fluid column within a saline breast implant can alter bullet velocity and/or bullet pattern of mushrooming. The two experimental groups included saline implants with 7.4 cm projection and a no implant group. The experimental design allowed the bullet to pass-through an implant and into ballistics gel (n = 10) or into ballistics gel without passage through an implant (n = 11). Shots that passed through an implant had 20.6% decreased penetration distance when compared to shots that did not pass-through an implant; this difference was statistically significant (31.9 cm vs. 40.2 cm, p < 0.001). Implant group bullets mushroomed prior to gel entry, but the no implant group mushroomed within the gel. Bullet passage through a saline breast implant results in direct bullet velocity reduction and earlier bullet mushrooming; this causes significantly decreased ballistics gel penetration.

© 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Language: en

Keywords

ballistics; breast augmentation; breast implant; breast reconstruction; bullet; firearm; forensic science; gunshot injury; thoracic injury; thoracic trauma