The Ohio State University, Injury Biomechanics Research Center, 2063 Graves Hall, 333 West 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Vehicle Research & Test Center (VRTC), P.O. Box B37, 10820 SR 347, East Liberty, OH 43319-0337, United States.
J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2015 Jan;41:302-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2014.09.002. Epub 2014 Sep 16.
Traumatic injury from motor vehicle crashes is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. The thorax is particularly at risk in motor vehicle crashes and is studied extensively by the injury biomechanics community. Unfortunately, most samples used in such research generally do not include children or the very elderly, despite the common occurrence of thorax injuries at both ends of the age spectrum. Rib fractures in particular, are one of the most common injuries, especially in the elderly, and can greatly affect morbidity, mortality, and quality of life. As the proportion of older adults in the population increases, such age-related fragility fractures will continually grow as a worldwide problem. Additionally, the risk of rib fracture significantly increases with age with confounding deleterious effects. Studies on elderly ribs are not uncommon, however very few studies exist which explore the mechanical properties and behavior of immature human bone, especially of ribs. Previous research identifying rib properties has provided useful information for numerous applications. However, no study has included a comprehensive sample of all ages (pediatric through elderly) in which ribs are tested in the same repeatable set-up. The goal of this study is to characterize differences in rib structural response across the age spectrum. One-hundred forty excised ribs from 70 individuals were experimentally tested in a custom-built pendulum fixture simulating a dynamic frontal impact. The sample includes individuals of ages ranging from six to 99 years old and includes 58 males and 12 females. Reported data include fracture location, displacement in the X and Y directions at fracture (δX, δY), force at fracture (FX), and linear structural stiffness (K). δX and K exhibit a statistically significant linear decrease with age (p<0.0001). FX reveals a trend in which a peak is reached in the young adult years (25-40). Detailed mechanical property data, as provided here, will prove useful for application in computational modeling efforts, which are vital to help prevent injury and to understand injury mechanisms from childhood through old age.
机动车事故造成的创伤是美国发病率和死亡率的主要原因。胸部在机动车事故中特别容易受伤，并且受到损伤生物力学界的广泛研究。不幸的是，尽管在年龄谱的两端都经常发生胸部损伤，但此类研究中使用的大多数样本通常不包括儿童或非常年长的人。肋骨骨折特别是最常见的损伤之一，尤其是在老年人中，并且会极大地影响发病率、死亡率和生活质量。随着人口中老年人比例的增加，这种与年龄相关的脆弱性骨折将作为一个全球性问题持续增长。此外，随着年龄的增长，肋骨骨折的风险会显著增加，并伴有有害的混杂影响。关于老年人肋骨的研究并不少见，但很少有研究探讨未成熟人类骨骼（特别是肋骨）的力学特性和行为。以前的研究确定了肋骨特性，为许多应用提供了有用的信息。但是，没有一项研究包括在相同可重复的设置中测试所有年龄段（从儿童到老年人）的肋骨的综合样本。本研究的目的是描述肋骨结构响应在年龄谱中的差异。从 70 个人中取出 140 个肋骨，在定制的摆锤夹具中进行实验测试，模拟动态正面冲击。样本包括年龄从 6 岁到 99 岁的个体，包括 58 名男性和 12 名女性。报告的数据包括骨折位置、骨折时 X 和 Y 方向的位移（δX、δY）、骨折时的力（FX）和线性结构刚度（K）。δX 和 K 随年龄呈显著线性下降（p<0.0001）。FX 显示出在年轻成年人（25-40 岁）中达到峰值的趋势。此处提供的详细机械性能数据将有助于应用于计算建模工作，这对于帮助预防伤害和理解从儿童到老年的伤害机制至关重要。
