Skip to main content

Assessment of Kinematic Brain Injury Metrics for Predicting Strain Responses in Diverse Automotive Impact Conditions

Annals of Biomedical Engineering volume 44, pages 3705–3718 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Numerous injury criteria have been developed to predict brain injury using the kinematic response of the head during impact. Each criterion utilizes a metric that is some mathematical combination of the velocity and/or acceleration components of translational and/or rotational head motion. Early metrics were based on linear acceleration of the head, but recent injury criteria have shifted towards rotational-based metrics. Currently, there is no universally accepted metric that is suitable for a diverse range of head impacts. In this study, we assessed the capability of fifteen existing kinematic-based metrics for predicting strain-based brain response using four different automotive impact conditions. Tissue-level strains were obtained through finite element model simulation of 660 head impacts including occupant and pedestrian crash tests, and pendulum head impacts. Correlations between head kinematic metrics and predicted brain strain-based metrics were evaluated. Correlations between brain strain and metrics based on angular velocity were highest among those evaluated, while metrics based on linear acceleration were least correlative. BrIC and RVCI were the kinematic metrics with the highest overall correlation; however, each metric had limitations in certain impact conditions. The results of this study suggest that rotational head kinematics are the most important parameters for brain injury criteria.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4

References

  1. Bain, A. C., and D. F. Meaney. Tissue-level thresholds for axonal damage in an experimental model of central nervous system white matter injury. J. Biomech. Eng. 122:615–622, 2000.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Bandak, F. A. On the mechanics of impact neurotrauma: a review and critical synthesis. J. Neurotrauma 12:635–649, 1995.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bandak, F. A., A. X. Zhang, R. E. Tannous, F. DiMasi, P. Masiello, and R. H. Eppinger. Simon: a simulated injury monitor; application to head injury assessment. In: Proceedings: International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (Vol. 2001, p. 7), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2001.

  4. CDC. CDC | Rates of TBI-related Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths | Traumatic Brain Injury | Injury Center. www.cdc.gov.

  5. Crandall, J. Injury Criteria Development: THOR Metric SD-3 Shoulder Advanced Frontal Crash Test Dummy. NHTSA Biomechanics Database, 2013. www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov.

  6. Crandall, J. ATD Thoracic Response Test Development: 20 Degree Far Side Oblique Frontal, Front Passenger Position. NHTSA Biomechanics Database, 2014. www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov.

  7. Department of Transportation NHTSA Docket Number 69-7, Notice 19. Occupant Crash Protection—Head Injury Criterion, S6.2 of MVSS 208

  8. Forman, J. L., Lopez-Valdes F, D. J. Lessley, P. Riley, M. Sochor, S. Heltzel, J. Ash, R. Perz, R. W. Kent, T. Seacrist, K. B. Arbogast, H. Tanji, and K. Higuchi. Occupant kinematics and shoulder belt retention in far-side lateral and oblique collisions: a parametric study. Stapp Car Crash J. 57:343–385, 2013.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Gabler, L. F., J. R. Crandall, and M. B. Panzer. Investigating brain injury tolerance in the Sagittal Plane using a finite element model of the human head. Int. J. Automot. Eng. 7:37–43, 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Gadd, C. W. Use of a weighted-impulse criterion for estimating injury hazard. SAE Technical Paper, 1966.

  11. Gennarelli, T. A., J. M. Abel, H. Adams, and D. Graham. Differential tolerance of frontal and temporal lobes to contusion induced by angular acceleration. In: Proceedings of the 25th Stapp Car Crash Conference, 1979, pp. 563–586.

  12. Gennarelli, T. A., L. E. Thibault, J. H. Adams, D. I. Graham, C. J. Thompson, and R. P. Marcincin. Diffuse axonal injury and traumatic coma in the primate. Ann. Neurol. 12:564–574, 1982.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Gennarelli, T. A., L. E. Thibault, and A. K. Omaya. Comparison of linear and rotational acceleration in experimental cerebral concussion. In: Proceedings of the 15th Stapp Car Crash Conference, Society of Automotive Engineers, New York, 1971.

  14. Greenwald, R. M., J. T. Gwin, J. J. Chu, and J. J. Crisco. Head impact severity measures for evaluating mild traumatic brain injury risk exposure. Neurosurgery 62:789, 2008.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Hardy, W. N., C. D. Foster, M. J. Mason, K. H. Yang, A. I. King, and S. Tashman. Investigation of head injury mechanisms using neutral density technology and high-speed biplanar x-ray. Stapp Car Crash J. 45:337–368, 2001.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hardy, W. N., M. J. Mason, C. D. Foster, C. S. Shah, J. M. Kopacz, H. Yang, A. I. King, J. Bishop, and M. Bey. A study of the response of the human cadaver head to impact. Stapp Car Crash J. 51:17–80, 2007.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Harmon, K. G., J. A. Drezner, M. Gammons, K. M. Guskiewicz, M. Halstead, S. A. Herring, J. S. Kutcher, A. Pana, M. Putukian, and W. O. Roberts. American Medical Society for Sports Medicine position statement: concussion in sport. Br. J. Sports Med. 47:15–26, 2013.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hernandez, F., L. C. Wu, M. C. Yip, K. Laksari, A. R. Hoffman, J. R. Lopez, G. A. Grant, S. Kleiven, and D. B. Camarillo. Six degree-of-freedom measurements of human mild traumatic brain injury. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 43:1918–1934, 2015.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Holbourn, A. H. S. Mechanics of head injuries. Lancet 242:438–441, 1943.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. IIHS TechData. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Ruckersville, VA. https://techdata.iihs.org/.

  21. Ji, S., H. Ghadyani, R. P. Bolander, J. G. Beckwith, J. C. Ford, T. W. McAllister, L. A. Flashman, K. D. Paulsen, K. Ernstrom, S. Jain, R. Raman, L. Zhang, and R. M. Greenwald. Parametric comparisons of intracranial mechanical responses from three validated finite element models of the human head. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 42:11–24, 2014.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Kerrigan, J., C. Arregui-Dalmases, and J. Crandall. Assessment of pedestrian head impact dynamics in small sedan and large SUV collisions. Int. J. Crashworth. 17:243–258, 2012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kerrigan, J. R., J. R. Crandall, and B. Deng. A comparative analysis of the pedestrian injury risk predicted by mechanical impactors and post mortem human surrogates. Stapp Car Crash J. 52:527–567, 2008.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kimpara, H., and M. Iwamoto. Mild traumatic brain injury predictors based on angular accelerations during impacts. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 40:114–126, 2012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Kimpara, H., Y. Nakahira, M. Iwamoto, S. Rowson, and S. Duma. Head injury prediction methods based on 6 degree of freedom head acceleration measurements during impact. Int. J. Automot. Eng. 2:13–19, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kleiven, S. Predictors for traumatic brain injuries evaluated through accident reconstructions. Stapp Car Crash J 51:81–114, 2007.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Laituri, T. R., R. E. El-Jawahri, S. Henry, and K. Sullivan. Field-based assessments of various AIS2+ head risk curves for frontal impact. SAE Technical Paper, 2015.

  28. Mao, H., L. Zhang, B. Jiang, V. V. Genthikatti, X. Jin, F. Zhu, R. Makwana, A. Gill, G. Jandir, A. Singh, et al. Development of a finite element human head model partially validated with thirty five experimental cases. J. Biomech. Eng. 135:111002, 2013.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Margulies, S. S., and L. E. Thibault. A proposed tolerance criterion for diffuse axonal injury in man. J. Biomech. 25:917–923, 1992.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Marjoux, D., D. Baumgartner, C. Deck, and R. Willinger. Head injury prediction capability of the HIC, HIP, SIMon and ULP criteria. Accid. Anal. Prev. 40:1135–1148, 2008.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Meaney, D. F., D. H. Smith, D. I. Shreiber, A. C. Bain, R. T. Miller, D. T. Ross, and T. A. Gennarelli. Biomechanical analysis of experimental diffuse axonal injury. J. Neurotrauma 12:689–694, 1995.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Mueller, B., A. MacAlister, J. Nolan, and D. Zuby. Comparison of HIC and BRIC head injury risk in IIHS frontal crash tests to real-world head injuries. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, 2015.

  33. National Operating Committee on the Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE). Standard test method and equipment used in evaluating the performance characteristics of protective headgear/equipment. National Operating Committee on the Standards for Athletic Equipment, Overland Park, KS, 2012.

  34. Newman, J. A generalized acceleration model for brain injury threshold (GAMBIT). In: Proceedings of the 1986 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact, 1986.

  35. Newman, J. A., N. Shewchenko, and E. Welbourne. A proposed new biomechanical head injury assessment function—the maximum power index. Stapp Car Crash J. 44:215–247, 2000.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. NHTSA NVS | Vehicle Crash Test Database (www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/database/VSR/veh/QueryVehicle.aspx).

  37. Ommaya, A. K. Biomechanics of head injury: experimental aspects. Biomech. Trauma 13:245–269, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Ommaya, A. K., and T. A. Gennarelli. Cerebral concussion and traumatic unconsciousness. Correlation of experimental and clinical observations of blunt head injuries. Brain 97:633–654, 1974.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Ommaya, A. K., A. E. Hirsch, P. Yarnell, and E. H. Harris. Scaling of experimental data on cerebral concussion in sub-human primates to concussion threshold for man. DTIC Document, 1967.

  40. Ommaya, A. K., S. D. Rockoff, M. Baldwin, and W. S. Friauf. Experimental concussion: a first report. J. Neurosurg. 21:249–265, 1964.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Ono, K., A. Kikuchi, M. Nakamura, H. Kobayashi, and N. Nakamura. Human head tolerance to sagittal impact reliable estimation deduced from experimental head injury using subhuman primates and human cadaver skulls. SAE Technical Paper, 1980.

  42. Panzer, M. B., B. S. Myers, B. P. Capehart, and C. R. Bass. Development of a finite element model for blast brain injury and the effects of CSF cavitation. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 40:1530–1544, 2012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Patrick, L. M., H. R. Lissner, and E. S. Gurdjian. Survival by design: head protection. In: Proceedings of American Association for Automotive Medicine Annual Conference, Vol. 7. Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, 1963.

  44. Rowson, S., and S. M. Duma. Brain injury prediction: assessing the combined probability of concussion using linear and rotational head acceleration. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 41:873–882, 2013.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Rowson, S., S. M. Duma, J. G. Beckwith, J. J. Chu, R. M. Greenwald, J. J. Crisco, P. G. Brolinson, A.-C. Duhaime, T. W. McAllister, and A. C. Maerlender. Rotational head kinematics in football impacts: an injury risk function for concussion. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 40:1–13, 2012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. SAE. J211/1: Instrumentation for impact test—part 1—electronic instrumentation. Technical Report, SAE International, 1995.

  47. Santiago, L. A., B. C. Oh, P. K. Dash, J. B. Holcomb, and C. E. Wade. A clinical comparison of penetrating and blunt traumatic brain injuries. Brain Inj. 26:107–125, 2012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Subit, D., J. Kerrigan, J. R. Crandall, K. Fukuyama, K. Yamazaki, K. Kamiji, and T. Yasuki. Pedestrian-vehicle interaction: kinematics and injury analysis of four full scale tests. In: Proceedings of the International Research Council on Biomechanics of Injury (IRCOBI), 2008.

  49. Takhounts, E. G., M. J. Craig, K. Moorhouse, J. McFadden, and V. Hasija. Development of brain injury criteria (Br IC). Stapp Car Crash J. 57:243–266, 2013.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Takhounts, E. G., R. H. Eppinger, J. Q. Campbell, R. E. Tannous, et al. On the development of the SIMon finite element head model. Stapp Car Crash J. 47:107, 2003.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Takhounts, E. G., V. Hasija, S. A. Ridella, S. Rowson, and S. M. Duma. Kinematic rotational brain injury criterion (BRIC). In: Proceedings of the 22nd Enhanced Safety of Vehicles Conference. Paper no. 11-0263, 2011.

  52. Takhounts, E. G., S. A. Ridella, V. Hasija, R. E. Tannous, J. Q. Campbell, D. Malone, K. Danelson, J. Stitzel, S. Rowson, and S. Duma. Investigation of traumatic brain injuries using the next generation of simulated injury monitor (SIMon) finite element head model. Stapp Car Crash J 52:1–31, 2008.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Thibault, L. E., T. A. Gennarelli, S. S. Margulies, J. Marcus, and R. Eppinger. The strain dependent pathophysiological consequences of inertial loading on central nervous system tissue. In: International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impacts, Bron, France, 1990.

  54. Versace, J. A Review of the Severity Index. Warrendale, PA: SAE International, 1971.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  55. Yanaoka, T., Y. Dokko, and Y. Takahashi. Investigation on an injury criterion related to traumatic brain injury primarily induced by head rotation. SAE Technical Paper, 2015.

  56. Zhang, L., K. H. Yang, and A. I. King. A proposed injury threshold for mild traumatic brain injury. J. Biomech. Eng. 126:226–236, 2004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Partnership for Dummy Technology and Biomechanics (PDB) for support and funding for this research. We also thank Dr. Erik Takhounts, Vikas Hasija, and Daniel Parent of NHTSA, and David Zuby, Becky Mueller, and Anna MacAlister of IIHS for their help in obtaining head kinematic data from the NHTSA and IIHS databases, respectively.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Center for Applied Biomechanics, 4040 Lewis and Clark Drive, Charlottesville, VA, 22911, USA

    Lee F. Gabler, Jeff R. Crandall & Matthew B. Panzer

Authors
  1. Lee F. Gabler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeff R. Crandall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Matthew B. Panzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew B. Panzer.

Additional information

Associate Editor Karol Miller oversaw the review of this article.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 341 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gabler, L.F., Crandall, J.R. & Panzer, M.B. Assessment of Kinematic Brain Injury Metrics for Predicting Strain Responses in Diverse Automotive Impact Conditions. Ann Biomed Eng 44, 3705–3718 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-016-1697-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-016-1697-0

Keywords

  • Brain injury criteria
  • Head kinematics
  • Translational
  • Rotational
  • Finite element modeling