Isolated Rib Response and Fracture Prediction for Young Mid-Size Male, Enabled by Population Specific Material Models and Rib Cross-Sectional Geometry.

Thorax injury remains a primary contributor to mortality in car crash scenarios. Although human body models can be used to investigate thorax response to impact, isolated rib models have not been able to predict age- and sex-specific force-displacement response and fracture location simultaneously, which is a critical step towards developing human thorax models able to accurately predict injury response. Recent advancements in constitutive models and quantification of age- and sex-specific material properties, cross-sectional area, and cortical bone thickness distribution offer opportunities to improve rib computational models.

AFSegNet: few-shot 3D ankle-foot bone segmentation via hierarchical feature distillation and multi-scale attention and fusion.

Accurate segmentation of ankle and foot bones from CT scans is essential for morphological analysis. Ankle and foot bone segmentation challenges due to the blurred bone boundaries, narrow inter-bone gaps, gaps in the cortical shell, and uneven spongy bone textures. Our study endeavors to create a deep learning framework that harnesses advantages of 3D deep learning and tackles the hurdles in accurately segmenting ankle and foot bones from clinical CT scans.

Cross-sectional properties of rib geometry from an adult population.

Human body models (HBMs) play a key role in improving modern vehicle safety systems to protect broad populations. However, their geometry is commonly derived from single individuals chosen to meet global anthropometric targets, thus their internal anatomy may not fully represent the HBM's target demographic. Past studies show sixth rib cross-sectional geometry differences between HBM ribs and population-derived ribs, and corrections to HBM ribs based on these data have improved HBM's abilities to predict rib fracture locations.

Influences of human thorax variability on population rib fracture risk prediction using human body models.

Rib fractures remain a common injury for vehicle occupants in crashes. The risk of a human sustaining rib fractures from thorax loading is highly variable, potentially due to a variability in individual factors such as material properties and geometry of the ribs and ribcage. Human body models (HBMs) with a detailed ribcage can be used as occupant substitutes to aid in the prediction of rib injury risk at the tissue level in crash analysis.

A GAN based approach for inferring progression trajectories of costal cartilage calcification from cross-sectional data at image level.

Background: Costal cartilage calcification (CCC) increases with age and presents differently for men and women. In individuals, however, the cross-sectional studies that show such trends do not reveal the geometric trajectories through which calcification might accumulate across a lifetime. Generative adversarial networks have the potential to reveal such trajectories from cross-sectional data by learning population trends and synthesizing individualized images at progressive levels of calcification.

Occupant-Based Injury Severity Prediction.

Road traffic injuries continue to be a leading cause of death around the world. Rapid emergency response is a key factor in improving occupant outcomes. Over the past ten years, Injury Severity Prediction (ISP) models have been developed and deployed to assist in effective dispatch of emergency medical services (EMS).

Comparing FE human body model rib geometry to population data.

Finite element human body models (HBMs) are used to assess injury risk in a variety of impact scenarios. The ribs are a key structural component within the chest, so their accuracy within HBMs is vitally important for modeling human biomechanics. We assessed the geometric correspondence between the ribs defined within five widely used HBMs and measures drawn from population-wide studies of rib geometry, focusing on (1) rib global shape, (2) rib cross-sectional size and shape, and (3) rib cortical bone thickness.

Detailed subject-specific FE rib modeling for fracture prediction.

The current state of the art human body models (HBMs) underpredict the number of fractured ribs. Also, it has not been shown that the models can predict the fracture locations. Efforts have been made to create subject specific rib models for fracture prediction, with mixed results.

Thoracolumbar Spine Fracture occurring in Obese People involved in Motor Vehicle Crashes.

Crash data from the International Center of Automotive Medicine (ICAM) database, with analytic morphomics, were used to evaluate thoracolumbar spine fractures for obese occupants in frontal crashes. Two BMI (Body Mass Index) groups (non-obese and obese) with a maximum abbreviated injury scale (MAIS) in the spine region of ≥2 (MAIS_6S 2+) were categorised and compared. The fracture types were assessed based on AIS for each occupant.

The effect of age and demographics on rib shape.

Elderly populations have a higher risk of rib fractures and other associated thoracic injuries than younger adults, and the changes in body morphology that occur with age are a potential cause of this increased risk. Rib centroidal path geometry for 20 627 ribs was extracted from computed tomography (CT) scans of 1042 live adult subjects, then fitted to a six-parameter mathematical model that accurately characterizes rib size and shape, and a three-parameter model of rib orientation within the body. Multivariable regression characterized the independent effect of age, height, weight, and sex on the rib shape and orientation across the adult population, and statistically significant effects were seen from all demographic factors (P < 0.

Age-related changes in thoracic skeletal geometry of elderly females.

Objective: Both females and the elderly have been identified as vulnerable populations with increased injury and mortality risk in multiple crash scenarios. Particularly in frontal impacts, older females show higher risk to the chest and thorax than their younger or male counterparts. Thoracic geometry plays a role in this increase, and this study aims to quantify key parts of that geometry in a way that can directly inform human body models that incorporate the concept of person age.

Morphomics of the Talus.

Previous studies of frontal crash databases reported that ankle fractures are among the most common lower extremity fractures. While not generally life threatening, these injuries can be debilitating. Laboratory research into the mechanisms of ankle fractures has linked dorsiflexion with an increased risk of tibia and fibula malleolus fractures.

The Effect of Rib Shape on Stiffness.

This study investigates the isolated effect of rib shape on the mechanical characteristics of ribs subjected to multiple forms of loading. It aims to measure the variation in stiffness due to shape that is seen throughout the population and, in particular, provide a tool for researchers to better understand the influence of shape on resulting stiffness. A previously published six-parameter shape model of the central axis of human ribs was used.

Modeling female and male rib geometry with logarithmic spirals.

In this study we present a novel six-parameter shape model of the human rib centroidal path using logarithmic spirals. It provides a reduction in parameter space from previous models of overall rib shape, while simultaneously reducing fitting error by 34% and increasing curvature continuity. Furthermore, the model directly utilizes geometric properties such as rib end-to-end span, aspect ratio, rib "skewness", and inner angle with the spine in its parameterization, making the effects of each parameter on overall shape intuitive and easy to visualize.

Morphometric analysis of abdominal organs and rib cage: Implication for risk of solid organ injuries in children.

Background: Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury-related mortality in children, with a higher rate of multiorgan injuries than in adults. This may be related to increased solid organ volume relative to abdominal cavity and decreased protection of an underdeveloped cartilaginous rib cage in young children. To date, these anatomic relationships have not been fully described.

Role of gender in burn-induced heterotopic ossification and mesenchymal cell osteogenic differentiation.

Background: Heterotopic ossification most commonly occurs after burn injury, joint arthroplasty, and trauma. Male gender has been identified as a risk factor for the development of heterotopic ossification. It remains unclear why adult male patients are more predisposed to this pathologic condition than adult female patients.

Morphomic analysis as an aid for preoperative risk stratification in patients undergoing major head and neck cancer surgery.

Background: Patients undergoing major head and neck cancer surgery (MHNCS) may develop significant postoperative complications. To minimize the risk of complications, clinicians often assess multiple measures of preoperative health in terms of medical comorbidities. One emerging method to decrease surgical complications is preoperative assessment of patient frailty measured by specific tissue characteristics.

Can anatomical morphomic variables help predict abdominal injury rates in frontal vehicle crashes?

Objective: Abdominal injuries resulting from vehicle crashes can be significant, in particular when undetected. In this study, abdominal injuries for occupants involved in frontal impacts were assessed using crash and medical data.

Methods: Injury rates and patterns were first assessed with respect to thoracic injuries.

Quantification of pediatric and adult cervical vertebra-anatomical characteristics by age and gender for automotive application.

Objective: The cervical anatomy has been shown to affect injury patterns in vehicle crashes. Characterizing the spine anatomy and changes associated with growth and gender is important when assessing occupant protection. In this study, selected cervical characteristics were quantified.

The quantification of liver anatomical changes and assessment of occupant liver injury patterns.

Liver injuries can be significant in vehicle crashes. In this study, the liver anatomy was quantified in both adult and pediatric populations as a function of gender and age. Five anatomical liver measurements were determined using CT scans of 260 normal livers.

Surgical management of burn flexion and extension contractures of the toes.

Burn contracture of the toes is a devastating sequela of thermal injury to the foot. Without proper treatment of toe burn contractures, patients suffer from significant functional and social limitations, including difficulties with activities of daily living. The authors classify the severity of toe burn scar contractures (TBSCs) by considering important characteristics of the deformity and tailor definitive surgical treatment based on the individual needs of the patient's condition.

Characterization of vertebral angle and torso depth by gender and age groups with a focus on occupant safety.

Objective: The human body changes as it becomes older. The automotive safety community has been interested in understanding the effect of age on restraint performance. Focus has been placed on characterizing the body's structural changes associated with age and gender.

Prediction of thoracic injury severity in frontal impacts by selected anatomical morphomic variables through model-averaged logistic regression approach.

This study resulted in a model-averaging methodology that predicts crash injury risk using vehicle, demographic, and morphomic variables and assesses the importance of individual predictors. The effectiveness of this methodology was illustrated through analysis of occupant chest injuries in frontal vehicle crashes. The crash data were obtained from the International Center for Automotive Medicine (ICAM) database for calendar year 1996 to 2012.