Title: The influence of human head tissue properties on intracranial pressure response during direct head impact

Authors: Jesse Ruan, Priya Prasad

Addresses: Biomechanics and Vehicle Safety R&D, Research and Innovation Center, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI 48124, USA. ' Biomechanics and Vehicle Safety R&D, Research and Innovation Center, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI 48124, USA

Abstract: The influence of human head tissue properties on intracranial pressure response during direct head impact was studied using finite element analysis and Design-of-Experiment (DOE) techniques. A three-factor, three-level factorial experiment design was applied to the skull, cerebrospinal fluid and brain of a finite element human head model to characterise the effects of these tissues on intracranial pressure response of the human head. This study has demonstrated that a DOE approach can provide more modelling information than the approach using one factor at a time. It has also shown that the incompressibility of the brain contributes much more to the variability of coup and contrecoup pressures than other cranial contents (73% and 53%, respectively).

Keywords: head tissue; pressure response; skull; brain incompressibility; design of experiments; DOE techniques; intracranial pressure; direct head impact; vehicle safety; finite element analysis; FEA; human head modelling; vehicle accidents; head injuries; contrecoup injuries; brain stem contusions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVS.2006.011230

International Journal of Vehicle Safety, 2006 Vol.1 No.4, pp.281 - 291

Published online: 06 Nov 2006 *

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