Understanding the Realistic Blast Impacts on Neurons and Cultured Slides of Rat Hippocampus: Experimental and Simulation Approach

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are frequently caused by blasts which trigger a series of neuronal biochemical changes, often resulting in reduced brain/nervous system function and/or cell death. These blasts are characterized by two phases, an initial positive pressure phase closely followed by a negative pressure phase. Other possible blast aftereffects include stretching or shearing of the cell membranes, resulting in axonal disconnection. Diagnosis of TBI caused by blast is challenging, as damage to the brain tissue progresses slowly and in a manner undetectable by conventional imaging techniques. Hence, understanding how functional and structural damages of cellular and tissue levels from the realistic blast loading effects at variable timescales after the TBI event is critical to linking mechanically induced structural changes with measurable effects on brain/nervous system function. Although there are many animal models that investigate a blast wave’s effect, elucidating the damage mechanisms in a collective animal model is extremely complex. In vitro models of blast, which allow for the deconvolution of mechanisms, are relatively scarce. Thus, it is largely unknown how structural damage at the cellular level impacts the functional activity at variable timescales after the TBI event.