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Materials Characterization of Cranial Simulants for Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury
Anna Wermer1, Joseph Kerwin2, Kelsea Welsh1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801.
Military Medicine
|February 20, 2020
Summary
Researchers developed biofidelic, transparent brain tissue simulants using polyacrylamide gels. These materials enable high-speed optical diagnostics to study traumatic brain injury mechanisms and inform protective gear design.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanical Engineering
- Neuroscience
- Materials Science
Background:
- Understanding brain tissue response to high-speed forces in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is limited.
- Animal and cadaver studies face object-to-object variation and interspecies differences.
- Biofidelic, transparent simulants are needed for advanced optical diagnostics during blast events.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and characterize transparent, biofidelic brain tissue simulants.
- To enable observation of deformation and damage patterns in TBI models.
- To improve understanding of blast and blunt force trauma mechanisms.
Main Methods:
- Quantified material properties of tissue simulants using shear rheometric, tensile, and compressive testing.
- Developed polyacrylamide gels as cranial test object components.
- Tuned simulant properties for biofidelity matching gray and white matter.
Main Results:
- Polyacrylamide simulants demonstrated optimal optical and mechanical property matching for cranial test objects.
- Polyacrylamide gels achieved densities of ~1.04 g/cc and shear moduli of 1.3-14.55 kPa.
- Achieved 30-35% shear difference tuning between gray and white matter simulants for biofidelity.
Conclusions:
- Polyacrylamide simulants are suitable for layered cranial phantoms in blast testing.
- Focus on interfacial phenomena between tissue simulants and material-fluid boundaries.
- Findings can inform the design of protective gear to mitigate TBI from blasts.
