Harnessing Thor's Hammer: Experimentally induced lightning trauma to human bone by high impulse current

Nicholas Bacci; Tanya Nadine Augustine; Hugh G P Hunt; Ken J Nixon; Jakobus Hoffman; Lunga Bam; Frikkie de Beer; Patrick Randolph-Quinney

doi:10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100206

Harnessing Thor's Hammer: Experimentally induced lightning trauma to human bone by high impulse current

Forensic Sci Int Synerg. 2021 Nov 3:3:100206. doi: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100206. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Nicholas Bacci¹, Tanya Nadine Augustine¹, Hugh G P Hunt², Ken J Nixon², Jakobus Hoffman³, Lunga Bam³, Frikkie de Beer³, Patrick Randolph-Quinney^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa.
² The Johannesburg Lightning Research Laboratory, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³ Department Radiation Utilisation, South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd. (Necsa), Pelindaba, South Africa.
⁴ Forensic Science Research Group, School of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumbria, NE1 8ST, UK.
⁵ Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstract

Lightning fatality identification relies primarily on soft tissue traumatic pattern recognition, prohibiting cause of death identification in cases of full skeletonisation. This study explores the effects of high impulse currents on human bone, simulating lightning-level intensities and characterising electrically induced micro-trauma through conventional thin-section histology and micro-focus X-ray computed tomography (μXCT). An experimental system for high impulse current application was applied to bone extracted from donated cadaveric lower limbs (n = 22). μXCT was undertaken prior to and after current application. Histological sections were subsequently undertaken. μXCT poorly resolved micro-trauma compared to conventional histology which allowed for identification and classification of lightning-specific patterns of micro-trauma. Statistical analyses demonstrated correlation between current intensity, extent and damage typology suggesting a multifaceted mechanism of trauma propagation - a combination of electrically, thermally and pressure induced alterations. This study gives an overview of high impulse current trauma to human bone, providing expanded definitions of associated micro-trauma.

Keywords: Bone trauma; Forensic taphonomy; High current impulse; Histology; Lightning; Micro-focus X-ray computed tomography.