Can breast implants save you from a bullet?

Approximately seven years ago on the Internet there was a story about how a breast implant saved a woman who received a bullet wound in the chest. The fragments from the bullet were a few millimeters from her heart and vital organs. If it were not for an implant, a woman could die. This was told by a plastic surgeon from Beverly Hills, Dr. Ashkan Gavami, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2010.

Needless to say, a lucky chance, but is it really possible to call a breast implant a bullet remedy? This was tried to find out plastic surgeons from the University of Utah.

Ballistic tests

In a new study, the results of which were published in the journal "Forensic Science", scientists conducted a series of ballistic tests. They shot the physiological implant from the gun to see if it could change the speed of the bullet or its trajectory, thereby reducing the likelihood of injury.

Researchers shot in a breast implant, made from salt solution, from a distance of only 2.5 meters. Behind the breast implant they placed a block of ballistic gel, the consistency and viscosity of which is comparable to the characteristics of the human muscle tissue. From the same distance, the researchers shot a ballistic gel without using a salt implant to compare the indicators.

Results of the research of scientists

Their study showed that the saline breast implant reduced the penetration of the bullet into the ballistic gel by 20.6%. Without an implant, the bullet penetrated the gel by 40.2 centimeters, while with it - by 31.9 centimeters.

"You can perceive breast implants as tiny airbags," said study lead author Christopher Pannucci. His data suggest that a saline implant, under the right circumstances, can protect the chest from a bullet wound, as well as from bumps, falls or car accidents. It is worth emphasizing that the researchers did not study silicone implants, so it is impossible to draw conclusions about their protective properties.

Expert conclusions

Nevertheless, it would be foolish to think that breast augmentation is a reliable way to protect yourself from bullet wounds, because the results of the study showed that the bullet could completely penetrate the saline implant and deepen into a ballistic gel at 31.9 cm. In addition, this type of injury is likely to lead to rupture of the implant, which for obvious reasons can cause a long list of complications.