Biomechanical Insights of Head Trauma Based on Computational Simulation

Head injuries from falls are a major cause of illness and death in children due to trauma. Despite their prevalence and impact, there is limited understanding of how children's heads react during impact events. Infant Post-Mortem-Human-Surrogate (PMHS) testing, a reasonable method for studying impact biomechanics, faces significant restrictions due to emotional, moral, and ethical issues. Computer modeling, though holding significant promise for creating alternative pediatric head surrogates, encounters numerous challenges because of the intricacies of child growth and development. A finite-element (FE) model of an infant head was created from high-resolution CT scans, utilizing published data on tissue material properties. Biofidelity was verified through comprehensive validation against existing PMHS data by simulating experimental impact tests, focusing on the infant head's kinematic response. This surrogate offers a valuable biomechanical engineering insight into how an infant's head behaves under impact loads, which will subsequently aid clinical and forensic management and injury prevention strategies.