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King ARA, Rovt J, Petel OE, Yu B, Quenneville CE. Evaluation of an Elastomeric Honeycomb Bicycle Helmet Design to Mitigate Head Kinematics in Oblique Impacts. J Biomech Eng 2024; 146:031010. [PMID: 38217114 DOI: 10.1115/1.4064475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/15/2024]
Abstract
Head impacts in bicycle accidents are typically oblique to the impact surface and transmit both normal and tangential forces to the head, causing linear and rotational head kinematics, respectively. Traditional expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam bicycle helmets are effective at preventing many head injuries, especially skull fractures and severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) (primarily from normal contact forces). However, the incidence of concussion from collisions (primarily from rotational head motion) remains high, indicating need for enhanced protection. An elastomeric honeycomb helmet design is proposed herein as an alternative to EPS foam to improve TBI protection and be potentially reusable for multiple impacts, and tested using a twin-wire drop tower. Small-scale normal and oblique impact tests showed honeycomb had lower oblique strength than EPS foam, beneficial for diffuse TBI protection by permitting greater shear deformation and had the potential to be reusable. Honeycomb helmets were developed based on the geometry of an existing EPS foam helmet, prototypes were three-dimensional-printed with thermoplastic polyurethane and full-scale flat and oblique drop tests were performed. In flat impacts, honeycomb helmets resulted in a 34% higher peak linear acceleration and 7% lower head injury criteria (HIC15) than EPS foam helmets. In oblique tests, honeycomb helmets resulted in a 30% lower HIC15 and 40% lower peak rotational acceleration compared to EPS foam helmets. This new helmet design has the potential to reduce the risk of TBI in a bicycle accident, and as such, reduce its social and economic burden. Also, the honeycomb design showed potential to be effective for repetitive impact events without the need for replacement, offering benefits to consumers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie R A King
- School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada
| | - Jennifer Rovt
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Oren E Petel
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Bosco Yu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada
| | - Cheryl E Quenneville
- School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada; Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada
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Rovt J, Xu S, Dutrisac S, Ouellet S, Petel O. A technique for in situ intracranial strain measurement within a helmeted deformable headform. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2023; 147:106140. [PMID: 37778168 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2023.106140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
Despite the broad use of helmets, incidence of concussion remains high. Current methods for helmet evaluation focus on the measurement of head kinematics as the primary tool for quantifying risk of brain injury. Though the primary cause of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) is thought to be intracranial strain, helmet testing methodologies are not able to directly resolve these parameters. Computational injury models and impact severity measures are currently used to approximate intracranial strains from head kinematics and predict injury outcomes. Advancing new methodologies that enable experimental intracranial strain measurements in a physical model would be useful in the evaluation of helmet performance. This study presents a proof-of-concept head surrogate and novel helmet evaluation platform that allows for the measurement of intracranial strain using high-speed X-ray digital image correlation (XDIC). In the present work, the head surrogate was subjected to a series of bare and helmeted impacts using a pneumatically-driven linear impactor. Impacts were captured at 5,000 fps using a high-speed X-ray cineradiography system, and strain fields were computed using digital image correlation. This test platform, once validated, will open the door to using brain tissue-level measurements to evaluate helmet performance, providing a tool that can be translated to represent mTBI injury mechanisms, benefiting the helmet design processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Rovt
- Carleton University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, ON, Canada
| | - Sheng Xu
- Carleton University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, ON, Canada
| | - Scott Dutrisac
- Carleton University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, ON, Canada
| | - Simon Ouellet
- Defence Research and Development Canada Valcartier, Québec, C3J 1X5, QC, Canada
| | - Oren Petel
- Carleton University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, ON, Canada.
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Poon K, Post A, Brien S, Rovt J, Dutrisac S, Cusimano M, Jalali A, Goodwin S, Petel O, Karton C, Hoshizaki T. 132 A Novel Mechanism of Periventricular Strain Observed in Post-Mortem Human Brains for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Neurosurgery 2023. [DOI: 10.1227/neu.0000000000002375_132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
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Dutrisac S, Rovt J, Post A, Goodwin S, Cron GO, Jalali A, Poon K, Brien S, Frei H, Hoshizaki TB, Petel OE. Intracranial Displacement Measurements Within Targeted Anatomical Regions of a Postmortem Human Surrogate Brain Subjected to Impact. Ann Biomed Eng 2021; 49:2836-2851. [PMID: 34528151 DOI: 10.1007/s10439-021-02857-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The dynamic response of the human brain subjected to impulsive loading conditions is of fundamental importance to the understanding of traumatic brain injuries. Due to the complexity of such measurements, the existing experimental datasets available to researchers are sparse. However, these measurements are used extensively in the validation of complex finite element models used in the design of protective equipment and the development of injury mitigation strategies. The primary objective of this study was to develop a comprehensive methodology to measure displacement in specific anatomical regions of the brain. A state-of-the-art high-speed cineradiography system was used to capture brain motion in post-mortem human surrogate specimens at a rate of 7500 fps. This paper describes the methodology used to capture these data and presents measurements from these tests. Two-dimensional displacement fields are presented and analyzed based on anatomical regions of the brain. These data demonstrated a multi-modal displacement response in several regions of the brain. The full response of the brain consisted of an elastic superposition of a series of bulk rotations of the brain about its centre of gravity. The displacement field could be linked directly to specific anatomical regions. The methods presented mark an improvement in temporal and spatial resolution of data collection, which has implications for our developing understanding of brain trauma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Dutrisac
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Jennifer Rovt
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Andrew Post
- Department of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, 200 Lees Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5S9, Canada
| | - Shannon Goodwin
- Division of Clinical and Functional Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8M5, Canada
| | - Greg O Cron
- Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada
| | - Alireza Jalali
- Division of Clinical and Functional Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8M5, Canada
| | - Katherine Poon
- Clinique Neuro-Outaouais, 209 Rue Gamelin, Gatineau, QC, J8Y 1W2, Canada
| | - Susan Brien
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 3655 Sir William Osler, Montreal, QC, H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Hanspeter Frei
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - T Blaine Hoshizaki
- Department of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, 200 Lees Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5S9, Canada
| | - Oren E Petel
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
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