Biomechanical modeling of penetrating traumatic head injuries: a finite element approach

Due to advances in emergency medical care and modern techniques, treatment of gunshot wounds to the brain have improved and saved many lives. These advances were largely achieved using retrospective analysis of patients with recommendations for treatment. Biomechanical quantification of intracranial deformation/stress distribution associated with the type of weapon (e.g., projectile geometry) will advance clinical understanding of the mechanics of penetrating trauma. The present study was designed to delineate the biomechanical behavior of the human head under penetrating impact of two different projectile geometry using a nonlinear, three-dimensional finite element model. The human head model included the skull and brain. The qualitative comparison of the model output with each type of projectile during various time steps indicated that the deformation/stress progressed as the projectile penetrated the tissues. There is also a distinct difference in the patterns of displacement for each type of projectile. This observation matches our previous study using a physical gelatin model of delineate the penetrating wound profiles for different projectile types. The present study is a first step in the study of biomechanical modeling of penetrating traumatic brain injuries.