Pressure Response Analysis in Head Injury

It has been hypothesised that the impact duration of a blunt head impact significantly affects the peak intracranial pressures, and that for short impact durations these pressure peaks could reach sufficient magnitude to cause cavitation in the blood vessels of the brain. Two finite element models of pressure wave propagation in the brain have been developed to explore the pressure response to blunt impacts of varying force time history. An analytical model has also been developed which combines the Hertzian contact stiffness and local bending and membrane stiffness of a fluid-filled sphere in order to predict the pressures produced in the brain. This model has been validated experimentally by studying the pressures induced in fluid contained within a cadaveric skull subjected to blunt impacts. The authors aim to further validate and explore the hypothesised link between short impact duration and magnified intracranial pressure peaks using a finite element model of increased biofidelity.