Virtual blunt injury of human thorax: age-dependent response of vascular system

Abstract

AbstractThis work is the numerical study of the age-dependent responses of the vascular system under low-mass high-speed impact scenario. The grid-characteristic method on the adaptive mesh model of the human thorax is the numerical tool of the study. Due to the lack of valid vascular injury criteria, the numerical model only provides information on injury risk. The numerical simulation demonstrates that an older age changes significantly the vascular response and increases the risk of aorta injury. We focused on the aorta because its rupture is the general consequence of vehicle accidents (great mass impacts at relatively low velocity). Our numerical results are in good agreement with previous studies of great-mass low-speed blunt thorax impact.