An Experimental Study of Shock Waves Resulting from the Impact of High Velocity Missiles on Animal Tissues

The spark shadowgram method of studying shock waves is described. It has been used to investigate the properties of such waves produced by the impact of a high velocity missile on the surface of water. The method can be adapted for study of behavior of shock waves in tissue by placing the tissue on a water surface or immersing it in water. Spark shadowgrams then reveal waves passing from tissue to water or reflected from tissue surfaces. Reflection and transmission of shock waves from muscle, liver, stomach, and intestinal wall are compared with reflection from non-living surfaces such as gelatin gel, steel, plexiglas, cork, and air. Because of its heterogeneous structure, waves transmitted by tissue are dispersed and appear as a series of wavelets. When the accoustical impedance (density x wave velocity) of a medium is less than that in which the wave is moving, reflection will occur with inversion of the wave; i.e., a high pressure wave will become a low pressure wave. This inversion occurs at an air surface and is illustrated by shadowgrams of reflection from stomach wall, from a segment of colon filled with gas, and from air-filled rubber balloons. Bone (human skull and beef ribs) shows good reflection and some transmission of shock waves. When steel is directly hit by a missile, clearly visible elastic waves pass from metal to water, but a similar direct hit on bone does not result in elastic waves strong enough to be detected by a spark shadowgram.