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Updated: Jun 27, 2025
A Pediatric Concussion Model in Mice: Closed Head Injury with Long-Term Disorders (CHILD)
Published on: February 7, 2025
Experimental investigation of brain contusion characteristics and dynamic response in low-age children using an
Rui Li1, Zhongqing Su1, Zhigang Li2
1School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, PR China.
Insights
This study used piglets to investigate brain contusions from impacts, finding free-fall impacts caused more severe injuries than drop-hammer impacts. These findings aid understanding of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Area of Science:
- Biomechanical Engineering
- Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Brain contusion is a common and potentially fatal traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children.
- Comprehensive research is crucial for understanding and mitigating the effects of pediatric TBI.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the characteristics of brain contusion and dynamic responses in pediatric surrogates under different impact conditions.
- To compare brain injury outcomes between free-fall drop impact tests and drop-hammer impact tests.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 4-week-old piglets as pediatric surrogates for head impact experiments.
- Employed self-designed devices for controlled free-fall drop and drop-hammer impact tests.
- Analyzed impact force, intracranial pressure (ICP), and contusion severity at varying impact energies.
Main Results:
- Both impact types induced coup injuries, with slight differences in contusion location.
- Free-fall impacts resulted in a higher incidence of brain contusion compared to drop-hammer impacts.
- Impact force and ICP exhibited distinct trends with increasing impact energy; contusion occurred above specific energy thresholds (17.2 J for free-fall, 21.9 J for drop-hammer).
Conclusions:
- Findings enhance understanding of brain contusion dynamics in pediatric TBI.
- Results support the validation of biomechanical theories and finite element models using piglet head surrogates for pediatric head injury research.
Introduction:
Brain contusion is a prevalent traumatic brain injury (TBI) in low-age children, bearing the potential for coma and fatality. Hence, it is imperative to undertake comprehensive research in this field.
Methods:
This study employed 4-week-old piglets as surrogates for children and introduced self-designed devices for both free-fall drop impact tests and drop-hammer impact tests. The study explored the characteristics of brain contusion and dynamic responses of brain under these distinct testing conditions.
Results:
Brain contusions induced by free-fall and drop-hammer conditions both were categorized as the coup injury, except that slight difference in the contusion location was observed, with contusion occurring mainly in the surrounding regions beneath the impact location under free-fall condition and the region just right beneath the impact location under drop-hammer condition. Analysis of impact force and intracranial pressure (ICP) curves indicated similar trends in impact forces under both conditions, yet different trends in ICPs. Further examination of the peak impact forces and ICPs elucidated that, with increasing impact energy, the former followed a combined power and first-order polynomial function, while the latter adhered to a power function. The brain contusion was induced at the height (energy) of 2 m (17.2 J), but not at the heights of 0.4, 0.7, 1, 1.35 and 1.7 m, when the vertex of the piglet head collided with a rigid plate. In the case of a cylindrical rigid hammer (cross-sectional area constituting 40 % of the parietal bone) striking the head, the brain contusion was observed under the energy of 21.9 J, but not under energies of 8.1 J, 12.7 J and 20.3 J. Notably, the incidence of brain contusion was more pronounced under the free-fall condition.
Conclusions:
These findings not only facilitate a comprehensive understanding of brain contusion dynamics in pediatric TBIs, but also contribute to the validation of theories and finite element models for piglet heads, which are commonly employed as surrogates for children.
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