Design and Verification of a COPD Screening Equipment Based on Dual-differential Pressure Throttling Technique / 中国医疗器械杂志

This study was to design a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) screening equipment, based on the dual-differential pressure throttling technique. The technique combined a wide range, but low-resolution ratio sensor and a narrow range, but high-resolution ratio one. It can accurately detect the indexes of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV), one second rate(FEV/FVC (%)), and achieve them in a low-cost way. The new designed machine will be compared with a British machine, named ML-3500. The correlations of FVC and FEV between new machine and ML-3500 were 0.998 and 0.999, respectively. The P values of paired test of these two indexes were over 0.05. Bland-Altman analysis of FVC, FEV and FEV/FVC (%) showed that more than 90% of the scatter points of the three parameters fell within the consistency interval. This machine can be used to accurately screen COPD and its low-cost would be advantage to promote in large population.

A Post-Mortem Medicolegal Study of Violent Asphyxial Deaths - An Autopsy Based Study

Background: The study was conducted in the mortuary of Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, Jahangir Puri, North-West district, Delhi to determine the frequency and epidemiology of violent asphyxial deaths in that region, in relation to age and gender variation. Duration of study: Autopsies conducted during January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013. Methods: Out of 2479(two thousand four hundred seventy nine) medico legal deaths autopsied at B.J.R.M. Hospital Delhi, during the study period, details were collected for those medico legal deaths identified to be due to violent asphyxial deaths. Results: 219 out of 2479 medico legal deaths were identified to be violent asphyxial deaths, making incidence rate 8.83%. There were 149(68.03%) males and 70(31.97%) females. Male predominance was seen in all asphyxial deaths except manual strangulation and smothering. Hanging and drowning were leading causes of violent asphyxial deaths. Conclusions: This study concludes that immuno-toxicity by cypermethrin insecticide is not similar in male and female subjects.

Finger nail abrasions in manual strangulation (throttling).

Autopsy surgeons, often observed that the nail abrasions produced over the neck of victims in manual strangulation are almost straight and do not resemble the shape of nails, which are semi-circular/cresentic. A study is undertaken to know the reason for the same. During the study it is observed that the skin gets stretched while the assailant is applying pressure and only then nails produce indentations. Once the pressure is removed the stretched skin reverts back to its original position. Thus the semicircular indentations caused over the stretched skin appear straight after the skin regains its original position.

Fracture of hyoid bone in cases of asphyxial deaths resulting from constricting force round the neck.

When any case of hanging, strangulation or throttling comes to the Department of Forensic Medicine for Post-mortem examination, the hyoid bone becomes the most integral part of internal examination at the autopsy table. Many authors and workers in this field have seriously highlighted fracture of hyoid bone. Some have claimed hyoid bone fracture in about 20% cases of hanging. Some have claimed hyoid bone fracture in about 68% cases of hanging. They also claimed that hyoid bone fracture increases with age above 40 years due to calcification and immobilization of joints. Some also claimed that hyoid bone fracture increases with using hard ligature for hanging and strangulation. Fracture of hyoid bone has been ascribed to many factors like manners of constriction, level of application of ligature or force of constriction, long drop or short drop suspension, age of victim, sex of victim etc. Besides getting hyoid bone fracture at autopsy table, it is also very important to check whether it is ante-mortem or post-mortem in nature or just an artifact. For this difficulty some have even advised preautopsy X-ray of the neck structures to detect ante-mortem hyoid bone fracture. Observing the importance given to hyoid bone fracture in hanging, ligature strangulation and throttling cases by many authors at the past and present days, the present authors have taken up the study in 257 cases of hanging, 7 cases of ligature strangulation and 5 cases of throttling to notice that hyoid bone fracture is nil or very rare in hanging where as it is very common in both forms of strangulation.