Finite element models and material data for analysis of infant head impacts

Abstract

Finite element (FE) models of the infant human head may be used to discriminate injury patterns resulting from accidents (e.g. falls) and from abusive head trauma (AHT). Existing FE models of infant head impacts are reviewed. Reliability of the material models is the major limitation currently. Infant head tissue properties differ from adults (notably in suture stiffness and strain-to-failure), change with age, and experimental data is scarce. The available data on scalp, cranial bone, dura, and brain are reviewed. Data is most scarce for living brain. All infant head model to date, except one, have used linear elastic models for all tissues except the brain (viscoelastic or Ogden hyperelastic), and do not capture the full complexity of tissue response, but the predicted whole-head response may be of acceptable accuracy. Recent work by Li, Sandler and Kleiven has used hyperelastic models for scalp and dura, and an orthotropic model for bone. There is a need to simulate falls from greater than one metre, and blunt force impacts.

Stress and strain propagation on infant skull from impact loads during falls: a finite element analysis

“…Hence, there is a lack of reports corresponding to their viscoelastic properties, although the viscoelastic constitutive model could represent more accurately the deformation in the skull in children due to its soft tissue characteristics. Most finite element models have employed isotropic, linear elastic material models to be used for the scalp, skull, sutures, dura, and CSF, and a viscoelastic model for the brain(Brooks et al 2018 ). To the best of author’s knowledge, the only experimental study was the one made by Coats and Margulies (Coats and Margulies 2006 ).…”

“…The elastic modulus for the flat bones was defined as the average between the elastic modulus perpendicular to the direction of the fiber and the elastic modulus parallel to the direction of the fiber. These values were defined following the results of previous experimental studies (MCPherson and Kriewall 1980 ; Coats and Margulies 2006 ) and taking into account the work by (Brooks et al 2018 ).…”

Utilisation of 3D Printing in the Manufacturing of an Anthropomorphic Paediatric Head Phantom for the Optimisation of Scanning Parameters in CT

“…With the increase in distance, all curves show constant values that represent brain tissue. It should be noted that skull shape can be different from one patient to another, while skull thickness and composition change rapidly in the early years of childhood [48,49]. Measurements made in Region A provide valuable data regarding the quality of the manufactured phantom.…”

Influence of Internal Structure and Composition on Head’s Local Thermal Sensation and Temperature Distribution

“…Based on fuzzy logic control, a new mathematical model which is closer to the human thermal regulation process was established to calculate the temperature of the inner and outer layers of the head. To ensure the reliability of the results, we obtained the real internal data of the head through the MRI [45][46][47][48], and obtained the real internal head structure and tissue physiological parameters through the MRI images. Based on these real data and combined with the established mathematical model, the temperature of the inner and outer layers of the head were simulated.…”