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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
07:56
Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts
Published on: January 29, 2018
Less-lethal hybrid ammunition wounds: a forensic assessment introducing bullet-skin-bone entity
Humbert de Freminville1, Nicolas Prat, Frederic Rongieras
1UMRESTTE UMR T 9405, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Faculté de Médecine Lyon-Est Claude Bernard, Lyon, France. humbert.defreminville@orange.fr
Journal of Forensic Sciences
|May 22, 2010
Summary
Hybrid ammunition impacts can cause significant injuries. Skin lesions do not predict bone fractures, and wound severity is linked to the projectile
Area of Science:
- Forensic Pathology
- Biomechanics
- Ballistics
Background:
- Less-lethal weapons using homogeneous projectiles like bean bags and rubber bullets are widely deployed by law enforcement.
- Reported injuries range from contusions to severe morbidity, necessitating a deeper understanding of their effects.
- Hybrid ammunition presents a unique wounding mechanism requiring specific investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the wound characteristics resulting from hybrid ammunition impacts.
- To determine the relationship between impact velocity, distance, and injury patterns.
- To evaluate the predictive value of skin lesions for underlying bone fractures.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a pathologists' flap-by-flap procedure on 24 postmortem human subjects.
- Assessed lesions on frontal, temporal, sternal, and tibial regions from 40-mm hybrid ammunition (33 g).
- Varied impact distances to correlate with projectile velocity and injury severity.
Main Results:
- The 50% risk of fractures occurred at specific velocities: 79.2 m/s (forehead), 72.9 m/s (temporal), 72.5 m/s (sternum), and 76.7 m/s (tibia).
- Skin lesions were found to be unreliable predictors of bone fractures.
- No significant correlation was observed between soft tissue/bone lesions and impact velocity or distance.
Conclusions:
- Hybrid ammunition injuries result from a complex interaction between projectile, skin, and bone.
- The study highlights the limitations of using external wound characteristics to assess internal damage.
- Understanding the bullet-skin-bone interaction is crucial for interpreting hybrid ammunition trauma.
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