Publication Abstract
Development of a Paediatric Head Model for the Computational Analysis of Head Impact Interactions
Khalid, G. A., Jones, M. D., Prabhu, R., Mason-Jones, A., Whittington, W. R., Bakhtiarydavijani, H., & Theobald, P. S. (2017). Development of a Paediatric Head Model for the Computational Analysis of Head Impact Interactions. Development. International Journal of Mathematical, Computational, Physical, Electrical and Computer Engineering: World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology. 11(3), 113-116.
Abstract
Head injury in childhood is a common cause of death
or permanent disability from injury. However, despite its frequency
and significance, there is little understanding of how a child’s head
responds during injurious loading. Whilst Infant Post Mortem Human
Subject (PMHS) experimentation is a logical approach to understand
injury biomechanics, it is the authors’ opinion that a lack of subject
availability is hindering potential progress. Computer modelling adds
great value when considering adult populations; however, its
potential remains largely untapped for infant surrogates. The
complexities of child growth and development, which result in age
dependent changes in anatomy, geometry and physical response
characteristics, present new challenges for computational simulation.
Further geometric challenges are presented by the intricate infant
cranial bones, which are separated by sutures and fontanelles and
demonstrate a visible fibre orientation. This study presents an FE
model of a newborn infant’s head, developed from high-resolution
computer tomography scans, informed by published tissue material
properties. To mimic the fibre orientation of immature cranial bone,
anisotropic properties were applied to the FE cranial bone model,
with elastic moduli representing the bone response both parallel and
perpendicular to the fibre orientation. Biofiedility of the
computational model was confirmed by global validation against
published PMHS data, by replicating experimental impact tests with a
series of computational simulations, in terms of head kinematic
responses. Numerical results confirm that the FE head model’s
mechanical response is in favourable agreement with the PMHS drop
test results.