Machine learning model to study the rugby head impact in a laboratory setting.

The incidence of head impacts in rugby has been a growing concern for player safety. While rugby headgear shows potential to mitigate head impact intensity during laboratory simulations, evaluating its on-field effectiveness is challenging. Current rugby-specific laboratory testing methods may not represent on-field conditions.

The influence of cooling on biomechanical time since death estimations using ovine brain tissue.

The significance of biomechanical analyses for forensic time since death estimations has recently been demonstrated. Previous biomechanical analyses successfully discriminated post-mortem brain tissue from tissue with a post-mortem interval of at least one day when held at 20 °C. However, the practical utility of such analyses beyond day one at 20 °C was limited.

The Impact of Drop Test Conditions on Brain Strain Location and Severity: A Novel Approach Using a Deep Learning Model.

In contact sports such as rugby, players are at risk of sustaining traumatic brain injuries (TBI) due to high-intensity head impacts that generate high linear and rotational accelerations of the head. Previous studies have established a clear link between high-intensity head impacts and brain strains that result in concussions. This study presents a novel approach to investigating the effect of a range of laboratory controlled drop test parameters on regional peak and mean maximum principal strain (MPS) predictions within the brain using a trained convolutional neural network (CNN).

A Novel Experimental Approach for the Measurement of Vibration-Induced Changes in the Rheological Properties of Ex Vivo Ovine Brain Tissue.

Increased incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) imposes a growing need to understand the pathology of brain trauma. A correlation between the incidence of multiple brain traumas and rates of behavioural and cognitive deficiencies has been identified amongst people that experienced multiple TBI events. Mechanically, repetitive TBIs may affect brain tissue in a similar way to cyclic loading.

The use of brain tissue mechanics for time since death estimations.

Time since death estimation is a vital part of forensic pathology. Despite the known tissue degradation after death, the efficacy of using biomechanical tissue properties to estimate time since death remains unexplored. Here, eight brain tissue localizations were sampled from the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, anterior and posterior deep brain, superior colliculi, pons, medulla, and cerebellum of 30 sheep; were then stored at 20 °C; and subsequently subjected to rheometry tests on days zero to four after death.

Particle Image Velocimetry Evaluation of Hemodynamics Proximal to the Kissing Stent Configuration in the Aorto-Iliac Bifurcation.

Purpose: The kissing stent (KS) method is low-risk compared with open surgery techniques. It is often used to treat aorto-iliac occlusive disease (AIOD). Deployment of the KS geometry has a high technical success rate.

Drop Test Kinematics Using Varied Impact Surfaces and Head/Neck Configurations for Rugby Headgear Testing.

World Rugby employs a specific drop test method to evaluate headgear performance, but almost all researchers use a different variation of this method. The aim of this study was, therefore, to quantify the differences between variations of the drop testing method using a Hybrid III headform and neck in the following impact setups: (1) headform only, with a flat steel impact surface, approximating the World Rugby method, (2 and 3) headform with and without a neck, respectively, onto a flat MEP pad impact surface, and (4) headform and neck, dropped onto an angled MEP pad impact surface. Each variation was subject to drop heights of 75-600 mm across three orientations (forehead, side, and rear boss).

Speech air flow with and without face masks.

Face masks slow exhaled air flow and sequester exhaled particles. There are many types of face masks on the market today, each having widely varying fits, filtering, and air redirection characteristics. While particle filtration and flow resistance from masks has been well studied, their effects on speech air flow has not.

Review of the Development of Hemodynamic Modeling Techniques to Capture Flow Behavior in Arteries Affected by Aneurysm, Atherosclerosis, and Stenting.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death in the developed world. CVD can include atherosclerosis, aneurysm, dissection, or occlusion of the main arteries. Many CVDs are caused by unhealthy hemodynamics.

Laboratory Validation of Instrumented Mouthguard for Use in Sport.

Concussion is an inherent risk of participating in contact, combat, or collision sports, within which head impacts are numerous. Kinematic parameters such as peak linear and rotational acceleration represent primary measures of concussive head impacts. The ability to accurately measure and categorise such impact parameters in real time is important in health and sports performance contexts.

In vitro pulsatile flow study in compliant and rigid ascending aorta phantoms by stereo particle image velocimetry.

The aorta is a high risk region for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Haemodynamic patterns leading to CVD are not well established despite numerous experimental and numerical studies. Most overlook effects of arterial compliance and pulsatile flow.

PIV Analysis of Haemodynamics Distal to the Frozen Elephant Trunk Stent Surrogate.

Purpose: The Frozen Elephant Trunk (FET) stent is a hybrid endovascular device that may be implemented in the event of an aneurysm or aortic dissection of the aortic arch or superior descending aorta. A Type 1B endoleak can lead to intrasaccular flow during systole and has been identified as a known failure of the FET stent graft. The purpose was to develop in-vitro modelling techniques to enable the investigation of the known failure.

A deformable template method for describing and averaging the anatomical variation of the human nasal cavity.

Background: Understanding airflow through human airways is of importance in drug delivery and development of assisted breathing methods. In this work, we focus on development of a new method to obtain an averaged upper airway geometry from computed tomography (CT) scans of many individuals. This geometry can be used for air flow simulation.