Materials Characterization of Cranial Simulants for Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury.

Publisher: Oxford University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 2984771R Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1930-613X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00264075 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Mil Med Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2018- : Oxford : Oxford University Press
Original Publication: Washington, D.C. : Association of Military Surgeons, United States, 1955-

Blast Injuries/*complications ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/*physiopathology ; Materials Science/*methods; Animals ; Biomechanical Phenomena/physiology ; Blast Injuries/physiopathology ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/complications ; Cattle ; Explosions ; Gelatin/analysis ; Humans ; Materials Science/instrumentation ; Materials Science/statistics & numerical data ; Shear Strength/physiology

Introduction: The mechanical response of brain tissue to high-speed forces in the blast and blunt traumatic brain injury is poorly understood. Object-to-object variation and interspecies differences are current limitations in animal and cadaver studies conducted to study damage mechanisms. Biofidelic and transparent tissue simulants allow the use of high-speed optical diagnostics during a blast event, making it possible to observe deformations and damage patterns for comparison to observed injuries seen post-mortem in traumatic brain injury victims.
Methods: Material properties of several tissue simulants were quantified using standard mechanical characterization techniques, that is, shear rheometric, tensile, and compressive testing.
Results: Polyacrylamide simulants exhibited the best optical and mechanical property matching with the fewest trade-offs in the design of a cranial test object. Polyacrylamide gels yielded densities of ~1.04 g/cc and shear moduli ranging 1.3-14.55 kPa, allowing gray and white matter simulant tuning to a 30-35% difference in shear for biofidelity.
Conclusions: These materials are intended for use as layered cranial phantoms in a shock tube and open field blasts, with focus on observing phenomena occurring at the interfaces of adjacent tissue simulant types or material-fluid boundaries. Mechanistic findings from these studies may be used to inform the design of protective gear to mitigate blast injuries.
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2020.)

9000-70-8 (Gelatin)

Date Created: 20200220 Date Completed: 20201116 Latest Revision: 20201116

20240829

10.1093/milmed/usz228

32074306