Effects from material parameters of craniocerebral tissues on impact responses of child head / 医用生物力学

Objective In view of the uncertainties of material parameters for child craniocerebral tissues, the effects of such parameters on responses of child head under direct impact loads were investigated. Methods The impact simulation experiments were conducted under direct impact loads by using a validated finite element model of 3-year-old child head. Taguchi orthogonal method and variance analysis were performed to analyze the material properties of craniocerebral tissues in child head. Results Elastic modulus of the skull had statistically significant effects on impact responses of child head. With the skull elastic modulus increasing, the coup pressure decreased significantly (P=0.000), whereas the contrecoup pressure (P=0.000) and maximum Von Mises stress of the skull increased significantly (P=0.000). The linear viscoelastic material parameters of brain tissues also had statistically significant effects on impact responses of child head. With the increase of the short-time shear modulus of brain tissues, the maximum shear stress of brain tissues increased significantly (P=0.000) whereas the maximum principal strain decreased significantly (P=0.000). Conclusions These statistical analysis results can provide references for selecting material parameter of craniocerebral tissues in finite element model of child head, which will be helpful to improve diagnosis accuracy of brain injuries such as concussion difficult to be definitely diagnosed when using brain CT images in clinic.

Effects from different head models on dynamic response of the head impact using material point method / 医用生物力学

Objective To investigate the effects of muscles and boundary conditions on head impact response. Methods Three different 3D material point impact models of human head were constructed from the CT scanned images. The first model was the simple head model (SHFr) including skull, membrane and brain, in which the head was free. The second model was the simple head model with muscle (MHFr) including skull, membrane, brain and muscle of the head, in which the head was free. The third model was the MHFr model with shoulder, in which the bottom edge of the shoulder was fixed (MHSFi). The three models were under the impact of a cylindrical lead hammer projected at a speed of 6.4 m/s to simulate the dynamic response of the three models using 3D explicit material point method code. Results The peak values of acceleration of the head centroid for the SHFr, MHFr and MHSFi model were 6.018×103, 4.69×103 and 4.76×103 m/s2, respectively. Conclusions The muscle of the head can disperse distributions of the contact force, enlarge the damage area and relieve the damage of the head. In case of short-time impact, whether the boundary of the head is free or the shoulder is fixed does not affect the dynamic response of the head impact.