A model for evaluating the ocular contusion injury potential of propelled objects.

The existing data on experimental ocular contusion were analyzed in terms of a simple mathematical model which predicts the maximum contact force between the eye and the impacting projectile. It was shown that this force was related to the injury producing mechanism, eyeball expansion, which was widely advocated in the literature. The effect of loading rate was also accounted for in the model. A dimensional analysis allowed previous experimental data to be used to generate tolerance curves for ocular injury. The agreement between the prediction of the model and previous subjective opinions of a panel of ophthalmologists was considered to be satisfactory. When the model was used to predict the hazard potential of projectile toys which presently exist in the market place, it was found that the contusive injury producing capability of these products covered the full range from safe to hazardous.