The importance of muscle tension on the outcome of impacts with a major vertical component

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Brolin, K.^1,2; Hedenstierna, S.¹; Halldin, P.¹; Bass, C.³; Alem, N.⁴

The importance of muscle tension on the outcome of impacts with a major vertical component

Int J Crashworthiness. October 2008;13(5):487-498

©2008 Taylor & Francis

Affiliations

¹Division of Neuronic Engineering, School of Technology and Health, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

²Engineering Research Nordic AB, Linkoping, Sweden

³Center for Applied Biomechanics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

⁴The US Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, Fort Rucker, AL, USA
Abstract and keywords

The hypothesis that muscle tension protects the spine from injuries in helicopter scenarios was tested using a finite-element model of the human head and neck. It was compared with cadaver crash sled experiment with good correlation. Then, simulations were performed with a sinusoidal velocity (5–22 G) applied at T1 60° to the horizontal plane. The model with relaxed muscle activation had delayed and decreased peak head rotation compared with passive properties only. Full muscle activation decreased the injury risk for the 13.5–22 G impacts. A sensitivity study of the impact angle showed a very slight variation of the resulting neck flexion, and 1° change affected all ligament injury predictions less than 4%. Finally, simulations with helmets resulted in increased ligament and disc strains with increasing helmet mass and with an anterior or inferior shift of the centre of gravity. It is concluded that the hypothesis seems to hold.

Keywords: finite elements; cervical muscles; impacts; head-neck kinematics; neck injuries
Links

DOI: 10.1080/13588260802215510

WoS: 000259036900003
History

Received: 2006-04-30

Revised: 2007-04-12

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Cited By (17)

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2015	Siegmund GP, Chimich DD, Elkin BS. Role of muscles in accidental injury. In: Yoganandan N, Nahum AM, Melvin JW, eds. Accidental Injury: Biomechanics and Prevention. 3rd ed. New York: Springer; 2015:611-642.
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2019	Pilarczyk BM. Contributions of Muscle, Skin, and Adipose Tissue to Indentation Response, Assessed With Computational Arm Model Under Quasi-Static Conditions [Master's thesis]. University of Waterloo; 2019.