Head/Neck Kinematic Response of Human Subjects in Low-Speed Rear-End Collisions

Abstract

Limited data exist which quantify the kinematic response of the human head and cervical spine in low-speed rear-end automobile collisions. The objectives of this study were to quantify human head/neck kinematics, and how they vary with vehicle speed change and gender during low-speed rear-end collisions. Forty-two human subjects (21 male, 21 female) were exposed to two rear-end vehicle-to-vehicle impacts (speed changes of 4 km/h and 8 km/h). Accelerations and displacements of the head and torso were measured using 6 degree-of-freedom accelerometry and sagittal high speed video respectively. Velocity was calculated by integrating the accelerometer data. Kinematic data of the head and C7-T1 joint axis in the global reference frame, and head kinematic data relative to the C7-T1 joint axis are presented. A statistical comparison between peak amplitude and time-to-peak amplitude for thirty-one common peaks in the kinematic response was performed. Peak amplitudes and time-to-peak amplitude varied significantly with collision severity for most response peaks, and varied significantly with gender for about one quarter of the response peaks. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD E201172.