Human Enzymatic Changes Associated with Impact Forces in the Lateral (Gy) Axis

摘要

Escape and impact protection systems expose aircrew to short duration impact accelerations of significant amplitude. Numerous animal, manikin, and human studies have explored Impact tolerance limits in the Gx and Gz axes, but very few studies have considered the Gy axis. There is an increased risk of injury when impact forces in the Gy direction are employed. There has been no documented attempt to use biochemical analysis to help establish safe exposure levels to impact forces. In one recent study, ten human subjects were exposed to +Gy impact accelerations of various amplitudes and durations at the Armstrong Laboratory Horizontal Impact Accelerator facility at Wright-Patterson AFB OH. Two types of data were collected from this study. First, biodynamic data on human response to +Gy impacts over a broad range of acceleration amplitudes and durations. Second, blood samples were collected to look at subclinical, but possibly significant, enzymatic changes following +Gy impact forces. This report documents a methodology to measure subclinical, but detectable enzymatic changes associated with impact forces in the Gy axis. Furthermore, the authors conclude from these changes that the lateral impact forces employed in this study were well within the limits of human tolerance.