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A Computational Study of Liquid Shock Absorption for Prevention of Traumatic Brain Injury.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Vahid Alizadeh, H; Fanton, MG; Domel, AG; Grant, G; Camarillo, DB
Published in: J Biomech Eng
April 1, 2021

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), more colloquially known as concussion, is common in contact sports such as American football, leading to increased scrutiny of head protective gear. Standardized laboratory impact testing, such as the yearly National Football League (NFL) helmet test, is used to rank the protective performance of football helmets, motivating new technologies to improve the safety of helmets relative to existing equipment. In this work, we hypothesized that a helmet which transmits a nearly constant minimum force will result in a reduced risk of mTBI. To evaluate the plausibility of this hypothesis, we first show that the optimal force transmitted to the head, in a reduced order model of the brain, is in fact a constant force profile. To simulate the effects of a constant force within a helmet, we conceptualize a fluid-based shock absorber system for use within a football helmet. We integrate this system within a computational helmet model and simulate its performance on the standard NFL helmet test impact conditions. The simulated helmet is compared with other helmet designs with different technologies. Computer simulations of head impacts with liquid shock absorption predict that, at the highest impact speed (9.3 m/s), the average brain tissue strain is reduced by 27.6% ± 9.3 compared to existing helmet padding when tested on the NFL helmet protocol. This simulation-based study puts forth a target benchmark for the future design of physical manifestations of this technology.

Duke Scholars

Published In

J Biomech Eng

DOI

EISSN

1528-8951

Publication Date

April 1, 2021

Volume

143

Issue

4

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Mechanical Phenomena
  • Humans
  • Head Protective Devices
  • Football
  • Computer Simulation
  • Brain Injuries, Traumatic
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • 4003 Biomedical engineering
  • 0913 Mechanical Engineering
  • 0903 Biomedical Engineering
 

Citation

APA
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ICMJE
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Vahid Alizadeh, H., Fanton, M. G., Domel, A. G., Grant, G., & Camarillo, D. B. (2021). A Computational Study of Liquid Shock Absorption for Prevention of Traumatic Brain Injury. J Biomech Eng, 143(4). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4049155
Vahid Alizadeh, Hossein, Michael G. Fanton, August G. Domel, Gerald Grant, and David Benjamin Camarillo. “A Computational Study of Liquid Shock Absorption for Prevention of Traumatic Brain Injury.J Biomech Eng 143, no. 4 (April 1, 2021). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4049155.
Vahid Alizadeh H, Fanton MG, Domel AG, Grant G, Camarillo DB. A Computational Study of Liquid Shock Absorption for Prevention of Traumatic Brain Injury. J Biomech Eng. 2021 Apr 1;143(4).
Vahid Alizadeh, Hossein, et al. “A Computational Study of Liquid Shock Absorption for Prevention of Traumatic Brain Injury.J Biomech Eng, vol. 143, no. 4, Apr. 2021. Pubmed, doi:10.1115/1.4049155.
Vahid Alizadeh H, Fanton MG, Domel AG, Grant G, Camarillo DB. A Computational Study of Liquid Shock Absorption for Prevention of Traumatic Brain Injury. J Biomech Eng. 2021 Apr 1;143(4).

Published In

J Biomech Eng

DOI

EISSN

1528-8951

Publication Date

April 1, 2021

Volume

143

Issue

4

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Mechanical Phenomena
  • Humans
  • Head Protective Devices
  • Football
  • Computer Simulation
  • Brain Injuries, Traumatic
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • 4003 Biomedical engineering
  • 0913 Mechanical Engineering
  • 0903 Biomedical Engineering