Computer methods and programs in biomedicine
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Comput Methods Programs Biomed · Jul 2016
Numerical simulations of the 10-year-old head response in drop impacts and compression tests.
Studies on traumatic injuries of children indicate that impact to the head is a major cause of severe injury and high mortality. However, regulatory and ethical concerns very much limit development and validation of computer models representing the pediatric head. The purpose of this study was to develop a child head finite element model with high-biofidelity to be used for studying pediatric head injury mechanisms. ⋯ Based on the results of the injury analyses, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) ICP cannot be used to accurately predict the locations of brain injury, but it may reflect the overall energy level of the impact event. (2) The brain regions predicted by the model to have high σv coincide with the locations of subdural hematoma with transtentorial herniation and the impact position of an actual injury. (3) The brain regions with high εp predicted by the model coincide with locations commonly found where diffuse axonal injuries (DAI) due to blunt-impact and rapid acceleration have taken place.