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Updated: Dec 28, 2025
Low-intensity Blast Wave Model for Preclinical Assessment of Closed-head Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rodents
Published on: November 6, 2020
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.
Introduction:
The mechanical response of brain tissue to high-speed forces in the blast and blunt traumatic brain injury is poorly understood. Object-to-object variation and interspecies differences are current limitations in animal and cadaver studies conducted to study damage mechanisms. Biofidelic and transparent tissue simulants allow the use of high-speed optical diagnostics during a blast event, making it possible to observe deformations and damage patterns for comparison to observed injuries seen post-mortem in traumatic brain injury victims.
Methods:
Material properties of several tissue simulants were quantified using standard mechanical characterization techniques, that is, shear rheometric, tensile, and compressive testing.
Results:
Polyacrylamide simulants exhibited the best optical and mechanical property matching with the fewest trade-offs in the design of a cranial test object. Polyacrylamide gels yielded densities of ~1.04 g/cc and shear moduli ranging 1.3-14.55 kPa, allowing gray and white matter simulant tuning to a 30-35% difference in shear for biofidelity.
Conclusions:
These materials are intended for use as layered cranial phantoms in a shock tube and open field blasts, with focus on observing phenomena occurring at the interfaces of adjacent tissue simulant types or material-fluid boundaries. Mechanistic findings from these studies may be used to inform the design of protective gear to mitigate blast injuries.
