Brain Injury Differences in Frontal Impact Crash Using Different Simulation Strategies

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Injury Biomechanics
• Computational Mechanics

Background:

• Brain injury is a leading cause of death in real-world crashes.
• Finite element (FE) models of isolated human heads are computationally efficient for studying brain injury.
• The accuracy of isolated head models compared to whole body models is not fully established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare brain injury metrics between isolated head FE models and whole human body FE models during simulated crashes.
• To evaluate the precision of simplified head-only modeling in brain injury research.

Main Methods:

• Simulated car crashes using two FE modeling approaches: a whole human body on a sled and an isolated head with prescribed motions.
• Analysis of brain injury metrics including von Mises stress (VMS), maximum principal strain (MPS), and cumulative strain damage measure (CSDM).

Main Results:

• Von Mises stress in the brain concentrated in the lower cerebrum and occipitotemporal region near the cerebellum for both models.
• Isolated head models predicted higher MPS and CSDM (5%) compared to whole body models.
• Differences in CSDM (10%) between the two modeling methods were minimal.

Conclusions:

• Isolated head models may overestimate certain brain strain levels (MPS and low-percentage CSDM).
• Whole human body models provide a more comprehensive assessment of brain strain, especially for lower strain levels.
• Careful consideration of modeling methodology is needed for accurate brain injury prediction.