School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, China.
Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China.
Chin J Traumatol. 2023 May;26(3):147-154. doi: 10.1016/j.cjtee.2022.07.001. Epub 2022 Jul 19.
Child head injury under impact scenarios (e.g. falls, vehicle crashes, etc.) is an important topic in the field of injury biomechanics. The head of piglet was commonly used as the surrogate to investigate the biomechanical response and mechanisms of pediatric head injuries because of the similar cellular structures and material properties. However, up to date, piglet head models with accurate geometry and material properties, which have been validated by impact experiments, are seldom. We aim to develop such a model for future research.
In this study, first, the detailed anatomical structures of the piglet head, including the skull, suture, brain, pia mater, dura mater, cerebrospinal fluid, scalp and soft tissue, were constructed based on CT scans. Then, a structured butterfly method was adopted to mesh the complex geometries of the piglet head to generate high-quality elements and each component was assigned corresponding constitutive material models. Finally, the guided drop tower tests were conducted and the force-time histories were ectracted to validate the piglet head finite element model.
Simulations were conducted on the developed finite element model under impact conditions and the simulation results were compared with the experimental data from the guided drop tower tests and the published literature. The average peak force and duration of the guide drop tower test were similar to that of the simulation, with an error below 10%. The inaccuracy was below 20%. The average peak force and duration reported in the literature were comparable to those of the simulation, with the exception of the duration for an impact energy of 11 J. The results showed that the model was capable to capture the response of the pig head.
This study can provide an effective tool for investigating child head injury mechanisms and protection strategies under impact loading conditions.
冲击场景下（如跌倒、车辆碰撞等）儿童头部损伤是损伤生物力学领域的一个重要课题。由于猪仔的细胞结构和材料特性相似，通常将其头部用作研究儿科头部损伤的生物力学响应和机制的替代物。然而，迄今为止，很少有经过冲击实验验证的具有准确几何形状和材料特性的猪仔头部模型。我们的目标是为未来的研究开发这样的模型。
在这项研究中，首先，基于 CT 扫描构建了猪仔头部的详细解剖结构，包括颅骨、缝线、大脑、软脑膜、硬脑膜、脑脊液、头皮和软组织。然后，采用结构化蝴蝶方法对猪仔头部的复杂几何形状进行网格划分，生成高质量的元素，并为每个组件分配相应的本构材料模型。最后，进行了导向落塔测试，并提取了力-时程曲线以验证猪仔头部有限元模型。
在冲击条件下对所开发的有限元模型进行了模拟，并将模拟结果与导向落塔测试的实验数据和已发表的文献进行了比较。导向落塔测试的平均峰值力和持续时间与模拟结果相似，误差低于 10%。精度低于 20%。文献中报道的平均峰值力和持续时间与模拟结果相当，但冲击能量为 11 J 的持续时间除外。结果表明，该模型能够捕捉猪头部的响应。
本研究可为研究儿童头部在冲击载荷下的损伤机制和保护策略提供有效的工具。
