Acoustic Emission Foreshocks and Aftershocks from Skull Fracture Caused by Surgical Clamping

Skull fractures produce stereotypical AE, possibly identifiable intra-operatively. Detecting patterns indicative of impending or recent fracture may allow for immediate intervention, avoiding severe complications. This represents the first reported evidence of detectable foreshock and aftershock AE sequences from bone fracture and points to striking parallels with seismicity generated by earthquakes, thus enabling tools from geophysics to be applied to detect imminent and recent bone failure.