The relation between mechanical impact parameters and most frequent bicycle related head injuries.

The most frequent head injuries resulting from bicycle accidents include skull fracture acute subdural hematoma (ASDH), cerebral contusions, and diffuse axonal injury (DAI). This review includes epidemiological studies, cadaver experiments, in vivo imaging, image processing techniques, and computer reconstructions of cycling accidents used to estimate the mechanical parameters leading to specific head injuries. The results of the head impact tests suggest the existence of an energy failure level for the skull fracture, specific for different impact regions (22-24J for the frontal site and 5-15J for temporal site).

Rapid prototyping compliant arterial phantoms for in-vitro studies and device testing.

Background: Compliant vascular phantoms are desirable for in-vitro patient-specific experiments and device testing. TangoPlus FullCure 930 is a commercially available rubber-like material that can be used for PolyJet rapid prototyping. This work aims to gather preliminary data on the distensibility of this material, in order to assess the feasibility of its use in the context of experimental cardiovascular modelling.

The mechanical properties of cranial bone: the effect of loading rate and cranial sampling position.

Linear and depressed skull fractures are frequent mechanisms of head injury and are often associated with traumatic brain injury. Accurate knowledge of the fracture of cranial bone can provide insight into the prevention of skull fracture injuries and help aid the design of energy absorbing head protection systems and safety helmets. Cranial bone is a complex material comprising of a three-layered structure: external layers consist of compact, high-density cortical bone and the central layer consists of a low-density, irregularly porous bone structure.

Biomechanics of frontal skull fracture.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether an energy failure level applies to the skull fracture mechanics in unembalmed post-mortem human heads under dynamic frontal loading conditions. A double-pendulum model was used to conduct frontal impact tests on specimens from 18 unembalmed post-mortem human subjects. The specimens were isolated at the occipital condyle level, and pre-test computed tomography images were obtained.

Biomechanical properties of the superior sagittal sinus-bridging vein complex.

Finite element models (FEM) of the head are frequently used to simulate traumatic brain injury, leading to a better understanding of brain injury tolerance. The strength of a FEM of the head is dependent on the use of correct material characteristics, experimentally derived for each intracranial tissue, including parasagittal bridging veins (BV). These veins are prone to rupture in their subdural portion upon head impact, giving rise to an acute subdural hematoma (ASDH).