Citation

Tanaka M, Yoshida H, Tsutsumi S. Proc. Int. Tech. Conf. Enhanced Safety Vehicles 2003; 2003: 10 p..

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, In public domain, Publisher National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Recently various researchers have attempted to clarify the mechanism of whiplash injuries, but the mechanism is not yet wholly understood. This is because researching tests are difficult to reproduce actual rear-end automobile accidents. First of all, a new biomechanical cervical model named "K-D neck model" was developed to reproduce human neck movements at low-speed rear-end collisions. Shear displacements in the plane of the inter-vertebral disks were observed. Secondly, in order to verify the biomechanical fidelity of the K-D neck model, numerical analyses using finite element models with both active and passive muscle elements were conducted to compare among each lateral head displacement of the cadaver, the volunteer and the K-D neck model. To reduce whiplash injuries, the new head restraint system equipped on a car seat was developed. The head restraint swings forward after low-speed rear-end collisions. Using sled tests, the lateral and longitudinal cervical movements of the neck were measured in every 1 millisecond, and it was observed that the faster support of the dummy head was effective to reduce both lateral and longitudinal displacements between each cervical vertebra.