Rayleigh–Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov instability induced flow, turbulence, and mixing. II

Traumatic brain injury caused by explosive or blast events is traditionally divided into four phases: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary blast injury. These phases of blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) are biomechanically distinct and can be modeled in both in vivo and in vitro systems. The primary bTBI injury phase represents the response of brain tissue to the initial blast wave. Among the four phases of bTBI, there is a remarkable paucity of information about the cause of primary bTBI. On the other hand, 30 years of research on the medical application of shockwaves (SW) has given us insight into the mechanisms of tissue and cellular damage in bTBI, including both air-mediated and underwater SW sources. From a basic physics perspective, the typical blast wave consists of a lead SW followed by supersonic flow. The resultant tissue injury includes several features observed in bTBI, such as hemorrhage, edema, pseudoaneurysm formation, vasoconstriction, and induction of apoptosis...

Mechanisms of Primary Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury: Insights from Shock-Wave Research

Results of quantitative holographic interferometric flow visualization of cylindrical interface instability induced by converging cylindrical shock waves are reported. Experiments were conducted in an annular vertical co-axial diaphragmless shock tube, in which cylindrical soap bubbles filled with He, Ne, Air, Ar, Kr, Xe and SF_6 were co-axially placed in its test section. Pressure histories at different radii during the shock wave implosion and reflection from the center were measured. Diagnostic method base on double exposure holographic interferometry was applied for the measurement of turbulent mixing zone at the interface. The observed cylindrical interfaces were found to have a higher growth rate of turbulent mixing zone than that of the plane shock / plane interface.

Holographic Interferometric Visualization of the Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability Induced by Cylindrical Shock Waves

A fluid injection device includes a fluid supply unit that accommodates and supplies fluid, a fluid injection unit that injects fluid supplied from the fluid supply unit, and a driving waveform generating device which is equipped with at least one adjusting device, a one-input multiple-control parameter changing unit that simultaneously changes plural control parameters for determining a fluid injection condition of the fluid injection unit on the basis of a signal from the at least one adjusting device, and a driving waveform generator that generates and outputs a driving waveform of the fluid injection unit on the basis of the control parameters set by the one-input multiple-control parameter changing unit.

Fluid injection device

Object. Shock waves have been experimentally applied to various neurosurgical treatments including fragmentation of cerebral emboli, perforation of cyst walls or tissue, and delivery of drugs into cells. Nevertheless, the application of shock waves to clinical neurosurgery remains challenging because the threshold for shock wave‐induced brain injury has not been determined. The authors investigated the pressure-dependent effect of shock waves on histological changes of rat brain, focusing especially on apoptosis. Methods. Adult male rats were exposed to a single shot of shock waves (produced by silver azide explosion) at overpressures of 1 or 10 MPa after craniotomy. Histological changes were evaluated sequentially by H & E staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL). The expression of active caspase-3 and the effect of the nonselective caspase inhibitor N-benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone (Z-VAD-FMK) were examined to evaluate the contribution of a caspase-dependent pathway to shock wave‐induced brain injury. High-overpressure (. 10 MPa) shock wave exposure resulted in contusional hemorrhage associated with a significant increase in TUNEL-positive neurons exhibiting chromatin condensation, nuclear segmentation, and apoptotic bodies. The maximum increase was seen at 24 hours after shock wave application. Low-overpressure (1 MPa) shock wave exposure resulted in spindle-shaped changes in neurons and elongation of nuclei without marked neuronal injury. The administration of Z-VAD-FMK significantly reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells observed 24 hours after high-overpressure shock wave exposure (p , 0.01). A significant increase in the cytosolic expression of active caspase3 was evident 24 hours after high-overpressure shock wave application; this increase was prevented by Z-VAD-FMK administration. Double immunofluorescence staining showed that TUNEL-positive cells were exclusively neurons. Conclusions. The threshold for shock wave‐induced brain injury is speculated to be under 1 MPa, a level that is lower than the threshold for other organs. High-overpressure shock wave exposure results in brain injury, including neuronal apoptosis mediated by a caspase-dependent pathway. This is the first report in which the pressure-dependent effect of shock wave on the histological characteristics of brain tissue is demonstrated.

Pressure-dependent effect of shock waves on rat brain: induction of neuronal apoptosis mediated by a caspase-dependent pathway.

The paper describes the results of holographic interferometric flow visualization of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability induced by cylindrical shock waves propagating across cylindrical interfaces. Experiments were conducted in an annular coaxial vertical diaphragmless shock tube, which can produce converging cylindrical shock waves with minimum disturbances. The shock wave converged and interacted with a cylindrical soap bubble filled with He, Ne, air, Ar, Kr, Xe, or SF6. The soap bubble was placed coaxially in the test section. The effects of density variation on the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability for a wide range of Atwood numbers were determined. Pressure histories at different radii during the shock wave implosion and reflection from the center were measured. Double-exposure holographic interferometry was used and the motion of the converging shock wave and its interaction with the gaseous interface were visualized. The variation of the pressure at the center with interface Atwood number for constant i...

Experimental study of Richtmyer-Meshkov instability induced by cylindrical shock waves

. This paper reports on the characteristics of a compact vertical diaphragmless shock tube, which was constructed and tested in the Shock Wave Research Center to study experimentally the behavior of toroidal shock waves. It is 1.15 m in height and has a self-sustained co-axial vertical structure consisting of a 100 mm i.d. outer tube and an 80 mm o.d. inner tube. To create a ring shaped shock wave between the inner and outer tubes, a rubber sheet is inserted to separate a high pressure driver gas from a test gas, which is bulged with auxiliary high pressure helium from the behind. When the rubber membrane is contracted by the sudden release of the auxiliary gas so as to break the seal, shock waves are formed. Special design features of the shock tube are described and their role in producing repeatable shock waves is discussed. Its special opening characteristics make possible the production of annular shaped shock waves that are unlikely met with a conventional tube that uses rupturing diaphragms. Performance of the shock tube is evaluated in terms of the shock wave Mach numbers and the measured flow properties. It eventually showed a higher degree of repeatability and the scatter in the shock wave Mach numbers Ms was found to be 0.2% for Ms ranging from 1.1 to 1.8. The shock wave Mach number so far measured agreed very well with the simple shock tube theory.

Characteristics of an annular vertical diaphragmless shock tube

The attenuation of an underwater shock wave by a thin porous layer is studied both experimentally and numerically. The shock waves are generated by exploding 10 mg silver azide pellets and the pressures at different distances from the explosion center are measured. Measurements are also carried out with a gauze layer placed between the explosion source and the pressure gauge. The results with and without the gauze layer are compared evaluating the shock wave attenuation. Numerical simulations of the phenomenon are also carried out for a simple wave attenuation model. The results are compared with the experimental data. Despite the simple mathematical model of wave attenuation, the agreement between the experimental and numerical results is reasonable.

Experimental and numerical studies of underwater shock wave attenuation

The paper describes results of experiments of a converging spherical shock wave reflected from a spherical wall. In order to visualize the motion and the flow field behind the shock waves, an aspheric lens-shaped transparent test section made of acrylic PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) with an inner spherical cavity was designed and constructed. This test section made optical flow visualization with collimated object beams possible. Spherical shock waves were produced at the centre of the spherical cavity by explosion of silver azide pellets ranging from 1.0 to 10.0 mg with corresponding energies of 1.9 to 19 J. The charges were ignited by irradiation of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam. Pressures were also measured at two points with pressure transducers mounted flush at the inner wall of the test section. The pellet was simultaneously ignited on two sides or was shaped to produce a uniform diverging spherical shock wave. This spherically diverging shock wave was reflected from the spherical inner wall of the test section to form a converging spherical shock wave. We visualized the shock-wave motion by using double exposure holographic interferometry and time-resolved high-speed video recording. The sequence of diverging and converging spherical shock-wave propagations and their interaction with gaseous explosion products were observed. The convergence, acceleration and stability of the imploding shock wave in the test section were studied.

Implosion of a spherical shock wave reflected from a spherical wall

Paper deals with applications of underwater shock waves to medicine. A historical development of underwater shock wave generation by using pulsed Ho:YAG laser beam irradiation in water is briefly described and an overview is given regarding potential applications of shock waves to neuro-surgery. The laser beam irradiation in a liquid-filled catheter produces water vapor bubble and shock waves intermittently produces micro-liquid jets in a controlled fashion from the exit of the catheter. Correlations between shock dynamics and bubble dynamics are emphasized. To optimize the jet motion, results of basic parametric studies are briefly presented. The liquid jet discharged from the catheter exit has an impulse high enough to clearly exhibit effectiveness for various medical purposes. In liquid jets we observed reasonably strong shock waves and hence invented a compact shock generator aiming to apply to microsurgery. We applied it to a rat's bone window and developed an effective method of brain protection against shock loading. The insertion of Gore-Tex® sheet is found to attenuate shock waves drastically even for very short stand off distance and its physical mechanism is clarified. The laser-induced liquid jet (LILJ) is successfully applied to soft tissue dissection. Animal experiments were performed and results of histological observations are presented in details. Results of animal experiments revealed that LILJ can sharply dissect soft tissue with a minimum amount of liquid consumption, while blood vessels larger than 0.2 mm in diameter are preserved. Shock waves and LILJ have a potential to be indispensable tools in neuro-surgery.

S. H. R. Hosseini

Papers

Experimental study of Richtmyer-Meshkov instability induced by cylindrical shock waves

Characteristics of an annular vertical diaphragmless shock tube

Experimental and numerical studies of underwater shock wave attenuation

Implosion of a spherical shock wave reflected from a spherical wall

Application of underwater shock wave and laser-induced liquid jet to neurosurgery