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Assessment of lumbar spinal disc injury in frontal crashes

Amiri, S ; Sharif University of Technology | 2020

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2020.103846
  3. Publisher: Elsevier Ltd , 2020
  4. Abstract:
  5. Frontal vehicle crashes have been a leading cause of spinal injuries in recent years. Reconstruction of frontal crashes using computational models and spinal load analysis helps us understand the patterns of injury and load propagation during frontal crashes. By reconstructing a real crash test and using a viscoelastic crash dummy model, spinal injury patterns were analyzed. The results indicated that a moderate crash with an impact speed of 56 km/h leads to injuries in L1-L2 and L5-S1 levels (L for lumbar and S for sacral vertebrae). The largest spinal loads and injuries were mainly observed immediately after the airbag deployment when the peak of the crash acceleration transpires. Also, the effects of impulse magnitude on the spinal loads and head injury criterion (HIC) showed that HIC is more sensitive than compressive forces to the magnitude of impulse. Moreover, the effects of disc preconditioning as a major factor in the risk of injury was evaluated. The results demonstrate that as the lumbar spine is subjected to a longer preloading, it will be more vulnerable to injury; preconditioning of the discs more adversely affected the risk of injury than a 10% increase in the crash impulse. Overall the results highlight the importance of spinal injury prevention in frontal crashes. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
  6. Keywords:
  7. Crash reconstruction ; Finite element method ; Frontal crashes ; Lumbar injury ; Spinal injury ; Crashworthiness ; Hybrid integrated circuits ; Airbag deployment ; Compressive forces ; Computational model ; Crash dummy models ; Head injury criterion ; Vehicle crashes ; Accidents ; Acceleration ; Article ; Collagen fiber ; Compression ; Computer model ; Controlled study ; Femur ; Finite element analysis ; Force ; Human ; Intervertebral disk disease ; Lumbar disk ; Priority journal ; Sacral vertebra ; Spine injury ; Tensile strength ; Traffic accident ; Viscoelasticity
  8. Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine ; Volume 123 , 2020
  9. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010482520302055