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Finite Element Methods in Human Head Impact Simulations: A Review

  • State-of-the-Art Modeling and Simulation of the Brain’s Response to Mechanical Loads
  • Published:
Annals of Biomedical Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Head impacts leading to traumatic brain injury (TBI) present a major health risk today, projected to become the third leading cause of death by 2020. While finite element (FE) models of the human brain are important tools to understand and mitigate TBI, many unresolved issues remain that need to be addressed to improve these models. This work aims to provide readers with background information regarding the current state of research in this field as well as to present recent advancements made possible by improvements to computational resources. Specifically, this has manifested as a drive to introduce more details in FE models in the form of increased spatial resolution and improved material models such as nonlinear and anisotropic constitutive models. The need to work with high-resolution FE meshes is underlined by the dominant wavelengths involved in transient pressure and shear wave propagation and the ability to model the brain surface. We also discuss improvements to experimental validation techniques which allow for better calibrated models. We review these recent developments in detail, highlighting their contributions to the field as well as identifying open issues where more research is needed.

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Notes

  1. If \(I_1\) and \(I_2\) are the invariants of the right Cauchy-Green deformation, the isochoric (or volume preserving) portions are computed as \({\tilde{I}}_1 = I_1 J^{-1/3}\), \({\tilde{I}}_2 = I_2 J^{-2/3}\)

  2. If \({\mathbf {A}}\) is the unit vector of the mean fiber direction, then \({\tilde{I}}_{4} = {\mathbf {A}}\cdot \tilde{{\mathbf {C}}} {\mathbf {A}}\); \({\tilde{I}}_{5} = {\mathbf {A}}\cdot \tilde{{\mathbf {C}}}^2 {\mathbf {A}}\)

  3. Amount of anisotropy is expressed as Fractional Anisotropy (FA), a scalar that represents the restriction of diffusion to one axis; zero being unrestricted and one being fully restricted, i.e., totally anisotropic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Amit Madhukar & Martin Ostoja-Starzewski

  2. Beckman Institute and Institute for Condensed Matter Theory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Martin Ostoja-Starzewski

Authors
  1. Amit Madhukar
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Correspondence to Martin Ostoja-Starzewski.

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Associate Editor Mark Horstemeyer oversaw the review of this article.

Appendix A: List of Related Review Articles

Appendix A: List of Related Review Articles

Here we list related review articles—in chronological order—that the reader may find interesting to explore further.

  1. 1.

    King et al. (1995): Review of early finite element models used in impact studies.79

  2. 2.

    Nigel A. Shaw (2002): Detailed review of neurophysiology of concussion.126

  3. 3.

    Doblaré et al. (2004): Computational modeling of bone fracture and healing.33

  4. 4.

    Yang et al. (2006): Compilation of numerical models, including head models, used in car-crash analysis.146

  5. 5.

    Cheng et al. (2008): Rheological properties of tissues of the central nervous system.23

  6. 6.

    Chatelin et al. (2010): Comparison of in vivo and in vitro techniques used to characterize brain tissue.19

  7. 7.

    Meaney and Smith (2011): Introduction to the biomechanics of concussions.98

  8. 8.

    Bass et al. (2012): Brain injuries arising from blast waves.10

  9. 9.

    Meaney et al. (2014): Recent advances in understanding mTBI caused from blast loadings as well as biomechanics of TBI.97

  10. 10.

    Despotović et al. (2015): Methods and challenges inherent to MRI segmentation.30

  11. 11.

    Tse et al. (2015): Review of finite element models developed in the past decade, along with detailed listings of material properties and head injury criteria.134

  12. 12.

    Post and Hoshizaki (2015): Relation between linear and rotational accelerations on injury criteria.114

  13. 13.

    Famaey et al. (2015): Mechanical characteristics, constitutive models and failure criteria of bridging veins.37

  14. 14.

    Rooij and Kuhl (2016): Detailed review of constitute models proposed to model brain tissue.120

  15. 15.

    Dixit and Liu (2017): Compilation of recent developments in FE models for head injury simulations.32

  16. 16.

    Haojie Mao (2018): Introduction to anatomy of the human head in the context of head impact simulations.94

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Madhukar, A., Ostoja-Starzewski, M. Finite Element Methods in Human Head Impact Simulations: A Review. Ann Biomed Eng 47, 1832–1854 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-019-02205-4

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