Simulation of the Strain Amplification in Sulci Due to Blunt Impact to the Head

Frontiers in Neurology

J. Neal Rutledge¹  Steven E. Kornguth³  Brian T. Fagan⁴  Sikhanda S. Satapathy⁴ 

[1] Austin Radiological Association, Austin, TX, United States;Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States;Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States;U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, United States;

关键词: injury biomechanics;    finite element analysis;    computational biomechanics;    traumatic brain injury;    blunt impact to head;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fneur.2020.00998

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become a concern in sports, automobile accidents and combat operations. A better understanding of the mechanics leading to a TBI is required to cope with both the short-term life-threatening effects and long-term effects of TBIs, such as the development chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Kornguth et al. (1) proposed that an inflammatory and autoimmune process initiated by a water hammer effect at the bases of the sulci of the brain is a mechanism of TBI leading to CTE. A major objective of this study is to investigate whether the water hammer effect is present due to blunt impacts through the use of computational models. Frontal blunt impacts were simulated with 2D finite element models developed to capture the biofidelic geometry of a human head. The models utilized the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) method to model a layer of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a deforming fluid allowing for CSF to move in and out of sulci. During the simulated impacts, CSF was not observed to be driven into the sulci during the transient response. However, elevated shear strain levels near the base of the sulci were exhibited. Further, increased shear strain was present when differentiation between white and gray matter was taken into account. Both of the results support clinical observations of (1).

【 授权许可】

Unknown