Wang Jinming, Cai Changsheng, Wan Lei, Liu Ao, Deng Kaifei, Fan Ying, Zhang Jianhua, Huang Jiang, Wan Changwu, Zou Donghua, Li Zhengdong
Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Science, Guiyang, China.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2025 Jul 29;13:1550228. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1550228. eCollection 2025.
This study investigated the biomechanical properties of the dura mater from 29 Chinese adult donors (20 -86 years), focused on the influence of age, anatomical region, sex and loading direction, to establish Chinese population - specific material parameters for cranial finite element (FE) models and enhance forensic traumatic brain injury analysis.
In this study, a total of 275 dural specimens were prepared and categorized into young adult (20-44 years), middle aged (45-64 years), and elderly (≥65 years) cohorts. Samples were excised from frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital regions and tested uniaxially in sagittal and coronal directions, with strain measured via digital image correlation (DIC) techniques. True stress-strain curves were fitted to the Raghavan model to determine elastic fiber modulus ( ), collagen fiber modulus ( ), failure stress ( ), and failure strain ( ); ultimate tensile force (MaxForce) was also recorded. Histological analysis assessed age-related microstructural changes.
indicated significant age-related degradation: , , ; and MaxForce significantly decreased with age (median declined from 28.0 MPa in young adults to 15.3 MPa in the elderly, P < 0.05; median from 0.215 to 0.156, P < 0.05), while showed no significant age correlation (P = 0.10). Significant regional variance were observed, with the parietal region exhibiting higher (P = 0.01) and (P = 0.03) compared to the occipital region; showed no significant regional differences (P = 0.12). Dura mater demonstrated clear anisotropy: sagittal loading yielded significantly higher median (27.0 MPa vs. 18.1 MPa coronal, P = 0.003), (4.30 MPa vs. 3.18 MPa coronal, P = 0.020), and MaxForce (12.9 N vs. 10.3 N coronal, P = 0.014). No statistically significant sex-based differences were found for any parameter (P > 0.05). Histology confirmed progressive age-related collagen disorganization and elastic fiber degradation. In conclusion, Chinese adult dura mater exhibits significant age-dependent decline in mechanical integrity, clear anisotropy favoring the sagittal direction, and notable regional heterogeneity, but no significant sex-based differences.
These findings provide crucial, population-specific data for improving the biofidelity of FE head models and forensic injury analysis.
本研究调查了29名中国成年捐赠者（20 - 86岁）硬脑膜的生物力学特性，重点关注年龄、解剖区域、性别和加载方向的影响，以建立针对中国人群的颅骨有限元（FE）模型材料参数，并加强法医创伤性脑损伤分析。
在本研究中，共制备了275个硬脑膜标本，并分为青年成人（20 - 44岁）、中年（45 - 64岁）和老年（≥65岁）队列。从额叶、颞叶、顶叶和枕叶区域切取样本，并在矢状面和冠状面方向进行单轴测试，通过数字图像相关（DIC）技术测量应变。将真实应力 - 应变曲线拟合到拉格万模型，以确定弹性纤维模量（ ）、胶原纤维模量（ ）、破坏应力（ ）和破坏应变（ ）；还记录了极限拉伸力（MaxForce）。组织学分析评估了与年龄相关的微观结构变化。
表明与年龄相关的显著降解： ， ， ；并且MaxForce随年龄显著降低（中位数从青年成人的28.0 MPa下降到老年的15.3 MPa，P < 0.05；中位数从0.215下降到0.156，P < 0.05），而 未显示出与年龄的显著相关性（P = 0.10）。观察到显著的区域差异，与枕叶区域相比，顶叶区域的 （P = 0.01）和 （P = 0.03）更高； 未显示出显著的区域差异（P = 0.12）。硬脑膜表现出明显的各向异性：矢状面加载产生的中位数 （27.0 MPa对冠状面的18.1 MPa，P = 0.003）、 （4.30 MPa对冠状面的3.18 MPa，P = 0.020）和MaxForce（12.9 N对冠状面的10.3 N，P = 0.014）显著更高。对于任何参数，均未发现基于性别的统计学显著差异（P > 0.05）。组织学证实了与年龄相关的胶原纤维逐渐紊乱和弹性纤维降解。总之，中国成年硬脑膜在机械完整性方面表现出显著的年龄依赖性下降、明显的矢状面各向异性和显著的区域异质性，但没有基于性别的显著差异。
这些发现为提高有限元头部模型的生物逼真度和法医损伤分析提供了关键的、针对特定人群的数据。
