GI (Gastrointestinal) Tract Experimental Study

摘要

An earlier model intestine test indicated that there was a direct correlation between surface deformation and bubble locations. Such deformation was the result of local stress concentration and believed to be the cause of gastrointestinal tract (GI) blast injury. This document was intended to determine the connection between injury and bubble sites in a real GI specimen. An isolated GI tract placed in a transparent test chamber would allow us to closely observe the blast/GI interaction process. The feasibility of using an isolated GI tract as the test specimen, however, needed to be verified. Furthermore, since there were numerous parameters that could contribute to the GI blast injury, it would be desirable to identify the ones that had the most direct impact on the injury threshold. The result from this series of tests indicated that the approach of using an isolated GI tract was a viable one when the complete GI loop was used in the test. Moisture and temperature control were found to be crucial in maintaining the GI material properties, both during the test and during specimen preparation. Furthermore, it was found that the following parameters had direct impact on the GI blast injury: the amount of air in the GI, GI internal pressure, vascular pressure, material strength, blast loading magnitude, and the number and rate of the blast applied.