Citation

Brave MA, Lakkireddy DR, Kroll MW, Panescu D, Brave MA, Lakkireddy DR, Kroll MW, Panescu D, Lakkireddy DR, Kroll MW, Panescu D, Brave MA. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2016; 2016: 2343-2348.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers))

DOI

10.1109/EMBC.2016.7591200

PMID

28226990

Abstract

Small swine are the most common model now used for electrical safety studies. Because of the significant anatomical and electrophysiological differences and the effect of animal size on the ventricular fibrillation (VF) threshold, there are concerns that these differences may exaggerate the risks of electrical devices to humans. We chose, as an illustrative and relevant example, swine studies of the TASER(®) conducted electrical weapon (CEW) as it has numerous published VF studies. We reviewed the published electrical swine safety studies for CEWs and compared them to finite element modeling studies, electrical safety standards, and epidemiological experience from field usage. We also compared the body weights of the swine to those of law enforcement arrest-related deaths. Studies of small swine exaggerate the risks of CEWs to humans. This conclusion may be extrapolated to suggest that the use of small swine for electrical safety studies should be questioned in general.

Language: en