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A finite element model investigation of gunshot injury

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Abstract

Multiple gunshot suicide can be a controversial subject mainly because of wrong opinions concerning immediate incapacitation or alleged backwards hurling. For the last 20 years, experts in medicine and physics have tried to demonstrate what really happens during a gunshot wound. Different methods have been used to achieve this aim such as basic physics or the use of empirical evidence. In this paper, using a finite element model of the human head, we demonstrate that no incapacitation or backwards hurling can occur from a gunshot fired between the eyes which did not enter the cerebrum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Médecine Légale, 11 rue Humann, 67085, Strasbourg, France

    Jean-Sébastien Raul, Annie Geraut & Bertrand Ludes

  2. Institut de Mécanique des Fluides et des Solides, UMR 7507 ULP CNRS, 2 rue Boussingault, 67000, Strasbourg, France

    Jean-Sébastien Raul, Caroline Deck, Franck Meyer & Rémy Willinger

Authors
  1. Jean-Sébastien Raul
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  2. Caroline Deck
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  3. Franck Meyer
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  4. Annie Geraut
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  5. Rémy Willinger
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  6. Bertrand Ludes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean-Sébastien Raul.

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Raul, JS., Deck, C., Meyer, F. et al. A finite element model investigation of gunshot injury. Int J Legal Med 121, 143–146 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0070-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0070-x

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