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Post-blast histological changes to three animal bones exposed to close-range chemical detonation

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Abstract

A range of investigative practices to aid explosive-related death investigations currently exist, although the use of histopathological bone samples to diagnose blast exposure and the distance of individuals from the blast source has not been previously reported. Forensic histopathology has been used effectively on soft tissue samples to define blast-related injuries effectively, analysing human organs such as the lungs, brain, liver, and skeletal muscles, providing important and useful forensic pathology interpretations. However, no studies currently exist examining the post-blast histological changes in human or animal bones subjected to blasts for forensic pathology practice, despite the opportunity that hard tissue bone samples present, given their significantly lower rate of decomposition over soft tissue. This study presents the first evidence-based findings on the post-blast histological changes in three animal bones when exposed to close-range chemical detonation (C4). The study’s qualitative findings highlight critical changes in the tissue architecture of three different animal bone sources due to blast effects with range from the blast source. This emphasises the potential use of histopathological bone sample analysis in future blast-related death investigations, while providing ideas to further explore this work using larger-scale experiments and post-blast case studies in aid of applying this work to human samples and forensic pathology practice.

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Data availability

Data sets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was funded by Centre for Defence Research and Development, MOD, Sri Lanka – Grant no: RC 39 (2023)

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Combinatorial Advanced Research and Education (KDU- CARE), General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka

    Bandula Nishshanka

  2. Faculty of Medicine, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka

    Iranthi Kumarasinghe

  3. School of Chemistry and Forensic Science, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom

    Chris Shepherd

  4. Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Paranitharan Paranirubasingam

  5. School of Engineering and Technology, The University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia

    Damith Mohotti

  6. Faculty of Engineering, NSBM Green University, Homagama, Sri Lanka

    Samindi Madhuba Jayawickrama

  7. Centre for Defence Research & Development, Ministry of Defence, Homagama, Sri Lanka

    Randika Ariyarathna

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  1. Bandula Nishshanka
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Contributions

Bandula Nishshanka: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal Analysis, Data curation, Investigation, Resources, Writing- Original draft preparation, Visualization, Investigation. Iranthi Kumarasinghe Formal Analysis, Data curation, Investigation, Resources, Investigation. Chris Shepherd: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal Analysis, Data curation, Investigation. Paranitharan Pirunubarasingham Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal Analysis, Data curation, Investigation, Visualization, Investigation. Damith Mohotti : Supervision, Writing- Reviewing and Editing Randika Ariyarathna : Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal Analysis, Data curation, Investigation, Resources, Writing- Original draft preparation, Visualization, Investigation.

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Correspondence to Bandula Nishshanka.

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Nishshanka, B., Kumarasinghe, I., Shepherd, C. et al. Post-blast histological changes to three animal bones exposed to close-range chemical detonation. Int J Legal Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03270-8

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