Accurate analysis of limiting human dose of non-lethal laser weapons

In order to maximize the lethality and reversibility of the non-lethal laser weapons (NLLW) at the same time and thus provide a theoretical basis for the R&D of laser weapons in the future, this paper accurately analyzed the limiting biological dose of irreversible damage to human skin caused by the NLLW. Firstly, based on the burn theory in medicine and the actual tactical background, this paper redefines the evaluation criteria of the limiting laser dose of NLLW to the human body. Secondly, on the basis of anatomical knowledge, a 5-layer finite element model (FEM) of superficial skin is proposed, constructed and verified, which can accurately describe the limiting reversible damage. Based on the optimized Pennes bioheat transfer equation, the diffusion approximation theory, the modified Beer-Lambert law, the Arrhenius equation, and combined with dynamic thermophysical parameters, this paper highly restored the temperature distribution and accurately solved the necrotic tissue distribution inside the human skin irradiated by 1064 nm laser. Finally, it is concluded that the maximum human dose of the 1064 nm NLLW is 8.93 J/cm2, 8.29J/cm2, and 8.17 J/cm2 when the light spots are 5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm, respectively, and the corresponding output power of the weapon is 46.74 W,173.72 W and 384.77 W. Simultaneously, the temperature and damage distribution in the tissue at the time of ultimate damage are discussed from the axial and radial dimensions, respectively. The conclusions and analysis methods proposed in this paper are of great guiding significance for future research in military, medical and many other related fields. (c) 2021 China Ordnance Society. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This paper accurately analyzes the biological dose of irreversible damage to human skin caused by non-lethal laser weapons (NLLW), redefines the evaluation criteria, and proposes a finite element model to describe reversible damage. By combining various theories and parameters, the temperature and tissue distribution on human skin irradiated by 1064 nm laser are studied. The maximum human dose and weapon output power under different beam sizes are obtained. The conclusions and analysis methods are of great guiding significance for future research in military, medical, and other related fields.