Citation

Thibault KL, Kurtz SM, Runge CF, Giddings VL, Thibault LE. Proc. IRCOBI 1999; 27: 73-82.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, International Research Council on Biomechanics of Injury)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The impact response of the infant head depends not only on its unique geometry, but also on the age-dependent mechanical properties of the skull and sutures. In this study, human tissue samples containing cranial bone and sutures were taken from fresh surgical specimens and prepared as miniature specimens for mechanical testing in bending and tension. The constitutive behavior for experimentally-determined infant skull and suture tissue was implemented in three-dimensional (3D) finite element models (FEM's) of the pediatric head to examine the sensitivity of skull and brain strains to variations in the impact direction. The head impact simulations demonstrated the directional dependence of skull fracture and traumatic brain injury risk.