Defence Ordnance and Safety Group (DOSG), Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), Abbey Wood, Bristol, UK
Platform Systems Division, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), Portsdown West, Fareham, UK.
BMJ Mil Health. 2020 Jun;166(3):129-134. doi: 10.1136/jramc-2019-001291. Epub 2020 Feb 27.
Pelvis, lower limb and associated genital injury caused by explosive devices was responsible for mortality and considerable long-term morbidity for the UK Armed Forces during combat operations in Afghanistan, resulting in the issue of a pelvic protection system in 2010. The aim of this current research was to determine the medical coverage of the pelvis and thigh and to define the vertical dimensions of ballistic protective material for future pelvic protection (PP).
CT scans from 120 male UK Armed Forces personnel were analysed to identify the anthropometric landmarks and vertical boundaries of coverage for the pelvis and thigh. Pelvic height was the vertical distance between the upper border of the iliac crest in the midaxillary plane to the most inferior point of the ischial tuberosity of the pelvis. Upper thigh height was proposed as a 100 mm fixed distance below the ischial tuberosities, enabling a tourniquet to be reproducibly applied. These distances were compared with the ballistic component of the five sizes of tier 1 PP using a paired t-test.
The vertical components of coverage measured using CT scans were all significantly less (p<0.01) compared with all five sizes of tier 1 PP; for example, the ballistic component of the smallest size of tier 1 PP measured 410 mm, which was larger than the 99th percentile male, which measured 346 mm on CT scans.
While all sizes of tier 1 PP provide coverage to the pelvis and upper thigh structures, there is an opportunity to optimise future PP. For example, comparing the large size of tier 1 PP to the 50th percentile male demonstrated an opportunity to reduce the ballistic protective component by 31%. Reducing the quantity of material used will improve heat dissipation and user comfort and reduce material mass and acquisition costs.
在阿富汗的作战行动中，爆炸装置造成的骨盆、下肢和相关生殖器损伤导致英国武装部队的死亡率和相当大的长期发病率上升，因此在 2010 年推出了骨盆保护系统。本研究旨在确定骨盆和大腿的医疗覆盖范围，并定义未来骨盆保护（PP）的弹道防护材料的垂直尺寸。
对 120 名英国武装部队男性人员的 CT 扫描进行分析，以确定骨盆和大腿的人体测量学标志和覆盖的垂直边界。骨盆高度是腋中线髂嵴上缘到骨盆坐骨结节最下缘的垂直距离。大腿上部高度被提议为坐骨结节下方 100mm 的固定距离，以便可重复性地应用止血带。使用配对 t 检验将这些距离与 5 种 1 级 PP 的弹道组件进行比较。
使用 CT 扫描测量的覆盖垂直组件均显著小于（p<0.01）所有 5 种 1 级 PP 的尺寸；例如，1 级 PP 最小尺寸的弹道组件测量值为 410mm，大于 CT 扫描上第 99 百分位数男性的 346mm。
虽然 1 级 PP 的所有尺寸都提供了对骨盆和大腿上部结构的覆盖，但有机会优化未来的 PP。例如，将 1 级 PP 的大尺寸与第 50 百分位数的男性进行比较，表明有机会将弹道防护组件减少 31%。减少使用的材料数量将改善散热和使用者舒适度，并降低材料质量和采购成本。
