Simulation of blast lung injury induced by shock waves of five distances based on finite element modeling of a three-dimensional rat

Blast lung injury (BLI) caused by both military and civilian explosions has become the main cause of death for blast injury patients. By building three-dimensional (3D) models of rat explosion regions, we simulated the surface pressure of the skin and lung. The pressure distributions were performed at 5 distances from the detonation center to the center of the rat. When the distances were 40 cm, 50 cm, 60 cm, 70 cm and 80 cm, the maximum pressure of the body surface were 634.77kPa, 362.46kPa, 248.11kPa, 182.13kPa and 109.29kPa and the surfaces lung pressure ranges were 928–2916 Pa, 733–2254 Pa, 488–1236 Pa, 357–1189 Pa and 314–992 Pa. After setting 6 virtual points placed on the surface of each lung lobe model, simulated pressure measurement and corresponding pathological autopsies were then conducted to validate the accuracy of the modeling. For the both sides of the lung, when the distance were 40 cm, 50 cm and 60 cm, the Pearson’s values showed strong correlations. When the distances were 70 cm and 80 cm, the Pearson’s values showed weak linear correlations. This computational simulation provided dynamic anatomy as well as functional and biomechanical information.