A Physical Head and Neck Surrogate Model to Investigate Blast-Induced Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) resulting from the exposure to a blast shock wave is a challenging problem due to the broad long-term neurological deficits on the victims. The blast-related injury is not only due to the prevalence of military conflicts, but also due to increase terrorist attacks and domestic/industrial accidents. Mechanisms of blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury (BImTBI) have been controversial for a long time and nowadays are one of the most attentive topics among the neurotrauma researches. A physical head and neck model (PHNM) equipped with a surrogate gel brain was developed, and its dynamic responses to a blast wave were evaluated using a predesigned compressed air-driven shock tube. The neck model was constructed and tuned to simulate the actual human neck stiffness. The history of intracranial pressure (ICP) at different locations within the brain was monitored with four miniature pressure transducers. The acceleration of the head as well as the brain model was recorded using two accelerometers mounted internally and outside the PHNM. The shockwave effects on the PHNM were examined at different distance orientations from shock tube exit. The PHNM was exposed to free-field blast tests with controlled reliable positive peak pressure (PPP). The ICP amplitudes/profiles and the acceleration results vary according to the PHNM locations and orientations with respect to shock tube exit. The most vital parameters of ICP wave profiles including PPP, positive phase duration, and positive impulse values were greatly affected by the PHNM locations/orientations from the shock tube exit.