Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Brain Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK; HEAD Lab, Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, UK.
Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Brain Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK.
J Biomech. 2021 Mar 30;118:110256. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110256. Epub 2021 Jan 23.
American football players are frequently exposed to head impacts, which can cause concussions and may lead to neurodegenerative diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Player position appears to influence the risk of concussion but there is limited work on its effect on the risk of CTE. Computational modelling has shown that large brain deformations during head impacts co-localise with CTE pathology in sulci. Here we test whether player position has an effect on brain deformation within the sulci, a possible biomechanical trigger for CTE. We physically reconstructed 148 head impact events from video footage of American Football games. Players were separated into 3 different position profiles based on the magnitude and frequency of impacts. A detailed finite element model of TBI was then used to predict Green-Lagrange strain and strain rate across the brain and in sulci. Using a one-way ANOVA, we found that in positions where players were exposed to large magnitude and low frequency impacts (e.g. defensive back and wide receiver), strain and strain rate across the brain and in sulci were highest. We also found that rotational head motion is a key determinant in producing large strains and strain rates in the sulci. Our results suggest that player position has a significant effect on impact kinematics, influencing the magnitude of deformations within sulci, which spatially corresponds to where CTE pathology is observed. This work can inform future studies investigating different player-position risks for concussion and CTE and guide design of prevention systems.
美式橄榄球运动员经常遭受头部撞击，这可能导致脑震荡，并可能导致神经退行性疾病，如慢性创伤性脑病（CTE）。球员位置似乎会影响脑震荡的风险，但关于其对 CTE 风险的影响的研究有限。计算模型表明，头部撞击过程中的大脑大变形与脑沟中的 CTE 病理部位重合。在这里，我们测试球员位置是否会对脑沟内的大脑变形产生影响，这可能是 CTE 的一种生物力学触发因素。我们从美式足球比赛的视频片段中物理重建了 148 个头部撞击事件。根据撞击的大小和频率，将球员分为 3 种不同的位置类型。然后，使用详细的 TBI 有限元模型来预测大脑和脑沟中的格林-拉格朗日应变和应变速率。通过单向方差分析，我们发现，在球员受到大的撞击大小和低频率撞击的位置（例如防守后卫和外接手），大脑和脑沟中的应变和应变速率最高。我们还发现，头部旋转运动是在脑沟中产生大应变和应变速率的关键决定因素。我们的研究结果表明，球员位置对撞击运动学有显著影响，影响脑沟内的变形程度，这与 CTE 病理观察到的部位相对应。这项工作可以为未来研究不同球员位置对脑震荡和 CTE 的风险提供信息，并指导预防系统的设计。
