Skull flexure from blast waves: a mechanism for brain injury with implications for helmet design.

Full Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become a signature injury of current military conflicts, with debilitating, costly, and long-lasting effects. Although mechanisms by which head impacts cause TBI have been well researched, the mechanisms by which blasts cause TBI are not understood. From numerical hydrodynamic simulations, we have discovered that nonlethal blasts can induce sufficient skull flexure to generate potentially damaging loads in the brain, even without a head impact. The possibility that this mechanism may contribute to TBI has implications for injury diagnosis and armor design.

Author information

Author/s: Moss, William C (WC); King, Michael J (MJ); Blackman, Eric G (EG);

Affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Physical review letters (Phys Rev Lett), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 103 (issue 10) : pp 108702

Dates: Created 2009/10/01; Completed 2009/10/13;

PMID: 19792349, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/13/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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