The influence of headform orientation and flooring systems on impact dynamics during simulated fall-related head impacts

Prevalence of and factors associated with head impact during falls in older adults in long-term care

“…In previous studies, appropriately tuned compliant flooring attenuated impact forces to the head by 80% (and to the hip by 40%), without impairing the mobility and balance of older women. 33,34 Our results support the need for ongoing efforts to examine the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of this intervention. 35,36 …”

Characterization of the protective capacity of flooring systems using force-deflection profiling

“…The substantial force attenuation properties of safety floors reported for falls on the hip and head (e.g. up to 33.7% [15] and 66.1% [16], respectively for SmartCell compared to rigid and vinyl floors) are likely due to the substantial energy absorption capacity observed in this study.…”

“…We created rigid head, hip, and foot indenters to simulate these scenarios. Based on evidence that simulated impacts onto the back of the head represent a worstcase scenario compared to frontal and side impacts [16], we used a surrogate head form (NOCSAE medium size [27], Southern Impact, Rockford, TN, USA) as a template to create an indenter modeled for the back of the head ( Fig. 2A).…”

“…'Safety floors' are reported to provide substantially greater force attenuation, with values ranging from 15.2% [14] to 50% [15] during simulated falls on the hip. These benefits translate to risk for head injury with attenuation of peak headform accelerations of up to 58% for some models of safety floors [16]. Benefits have also been observed in studies with human volunteers with a 4.5 cm thick layer of foam rubber reported to reduce peak force applied to the proximal femur by 15% and buttocks by 24% during sideways and backwards falls, respectively [17,18].…”

External Hand Forces Exerted by Long-Term Care Staff to Push Floor-Based Lifts

“…SmartCells is composed of a continuous rubber surface layer supported by an array of cylindrical rubber columns 14 mm in diameter and spaced at 19-mm intervals (Glinka, Karakolis, et al, 2013). This specific floor, without an overlay, provides 35% (Laing & Robinovitch, 2009) and 60% (Wright & Laing, 2012) peak force attenuation during mechanical tests that simulate falls to the hip and back of the head, respectively. Compared to other commercially available novel compliant floors, SmartCells has been tested more extensively for balance and mobility and has minimal effects on older adults during daily activities (Glinka, Cheema, et al, 2013;Glinka, Karakolis, et al, 2013;Laing & Robinovitch, 2009;Wright & Laing, 2011;Wright et al, 2014).…”