Biomechanical considerations for child occupant protection

Kleinberger, Michael; Yoganandan, Narayan; Kumaresan, Srirangam

Affiliations

¹National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Transportation Biomechanics Research Center, Washington, DC

²Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

Abstract

This paper discusses the differences in injury patterns between adults and children under similar loading conditions during an automotive crash event. Because of the recent awareness and the ensuing necessity, as an example, injuries including fatalities due to airbag deployment are discussed. Biomechanical differences explain the varying injury patterns and mechanisms of injury. The commonly adopted scaling techniques for predicting pediatric tolerances are described. A comparison of the biomechanical properties of the pediatric and adult structures is given. Some insight is provided with regard to the use of these data to develop validated mathematical models of pediatric structures. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research.

Links

PubMedCentral: PMC3400196

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Year	Entry
2015	Petitjean A, Trosseille X, Yoganandan N, Pintar FA. Normalization and scaling for human response corridors and development of injury risk curves. In: Yoganandan N, Nahum AM, Melvin JW, eds. Accidental Injury: Biomechanics and Prevention. 3rd ed. New York: Springer; 2015:769-792.
1999	Pintar FA, Yoganandan N, Gennarelli TA. Head and neck tension biomechanical models for pediatric and small female populations. In: 43rd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 20-21, 1999; Barcelon, Spain.357-366.
2000	Yoganandan N, Pintar FA, Kumaresan S, Gennarelli TA, Sun E, Kuppa S, Maltese M, Eppinger RH. Pediatric and small female neck injury scale factors and tolerance based on human spine biomechanical characteristics. In: Proceedings of the 2000 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 20-22, 2000; Montpellier, France.345-359.
1999	Arbogast KB, Durbin DR, Resh BF, Winston FK. The influence of occupant and vehicle characteristics on risk of pediatric air bag injury. In: Proceedings of the 43rd Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 25-27, 1999; San Diego, CA. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:377-385. SAE 99SC27.
2013	Parenteau CS, Ehrlich P, Ma L, Su GL, Holcombe S, Wang SC. The quantification of liver anatomical changes and assessment of occupant liver injury patterns. Stapp Car Crash J. November 2013;57:267-283.
2004	Yoganandan N, Pintar FA. Biomechanics of temporo-parietal skull fracture. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). March 2004;19(3):225-239.
2007	Yoganandan N, Pintar FA, Stemper BD, Gennarelli TA, Weigelt JA. Biomechanics of side impact: injury criteria, aging occupants, and airbag technology. J Biomech. 2007;40(2):227-243.
2014	Yoganandan N, Arun MWJ, Pintar FA. Normalizing and scaling of data to derive human response corridors from impact tests. J Biomech. June 3, 2014;47(8):1749-1756.
2008	Brown J. The Aetiology and Mechanisms of Serious Injury in Restrained Child Occupants [PhD thesis]. University of New South Wales; 2008.
2009	Parent DP. Scaling and Optimization of Thoracic Impact Response in Pediatric Subjects [Master's thesis]. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia; 2009.
2005	Shah S. Skull Fracture Prediction Using Finite Element Model With Skull Thickness Variation [Master's thesis]. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University; 2005.