Coventry research could save lives in road accidents

A detailed database of pedestrian injuries is being developed alongside a mathematical model, which can reverse-engineer pedestrian collisions and produce first-hand virtual CT scans from simple photographs of a patient’s injuries and the vehicle involved.

According to the team, the virtual CT scans can inform paramedics in seconds about the victim’s potential internal injuries per organ, enabling the correct treatment at the scene. The information could also be sent to a hospital, speeding up the triage and improving treatment of the casualty upon their arrival in Accident and Emergency units.

Dr Christophe Bastien, associate professor at Coventry University’s research Centre for Future Transport and Cities, is developing the Forensic Pedestrian Trauma Database (FPTD) alongside colleagues and in conjunction with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW). The team has also been supported with funding from The Road Safety Trust.

Bastien said that in the long-term, the team hopes to develop the framework into something that can be rolled out within the NHS and to healthcare services around the world.

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“Our next step is to secure funding to continue the development of the FPTD,” he said in a statement. “Our research brings huge interest from hospitals, ambulance services, transport forensics and the police.”

Gary Gilkes, associate professor in paramedic science in Coventry University’s Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, commented: “Pedestrian trauma injuries can be very emotional and human factors can slow down the process of triage, so having a way to speed up this process and minimise these human factors would undoubtedly improve patient outcomes and save lives.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this research and this framework will certainly improve the speed in which clinicians can triage injury patterns to be able to update hospitals so they can prepare treatment packages and we can start early interventions treatment on scene so these injuries don’t cause life-changing scenarios or conditions.”

The virtual CT scans have been developed and validated using the Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS), which has been devised by the Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Central R&D Labs.