Neck injury prevention by automatically positioned head restraint

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Muser, M. H.¹; Dippel, Ch.²; Walz, F.³

Neck injury prevention by automatically positioned head restraint

Advances in Occupant Restraint Technologies: Joint AAAM-IRCOBI Special Session

Affiliations

¹Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Informatics, University of Zürich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland

²Institute for Lightweight Construction, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

³Institute for Legal Medicine, University of Zürich
Abstract

Low-Mass Rigid-Belt vehicles have shown a promising protection potential for their occupants in frontal and lateral collisions. The higher vehicle acceleration levels caused by their increased stiffness can be compensated by properly chosen advanced restraint systems and integrated lateral padding.

In rear impacts, however, new means of neck protection are required. Even in conventional cars with properly designed rear end deformation zones, headrests reduce neck injuries only in 20 - 30 % of the cases. Reasons for this fact include inadequate positioning or even insufficient adaptability of the headrest, and inappropriate construction of the seat back.

Due to inadequate or lacking legislation and user negligence current headrests are rarely adjusted properly, although it is known that a carefully designed and individually adapted head-neck restraint could reduce neck injuries considerably.

Automatic position monitoring and adjustment for the head-neck restraint in both the horizontal and vertical axis could alleviate these shortcomings. Such a system, consisting of electronic sensing devices, control circuitry, and electrical translation mechanisms, is implemented in the light vehicle seat currently under development by our Working Group. First experiments with this new approach for neck injury prevention are discussed. The control circuit could also alert the driver from sitting too close to the steering wheel, thereby contributing to an optimal effectiveness of the air bag deployment in frontal collisions.

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Cited By (17)

Year	Entry
2010	Schmitt K-U, Niederer PF, Muser MH, Walz F. Trauma Biomechanics: Accidental Injury in Traffic and Sports. 2nd ed. Deidelberg, Germany: Springer; 2010.
1998	Bigi D, Heilig A, Steffan H, Eichberger A. A comparison study of active head restraints for neck protection in rear-end collisions. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.1103-1110.
1998	Minton R, Murray PA, Pitcher M, Galasko CSB. Lower back and neck strain injuries: the relative roles of seat adjustment vehicle and seat design. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.1377-1390.
1995	Geigl BC, Steffan H, Dippel C, Muser MH, Walz F, Svensson MY. Comparison of head-neck kinematics during rear end impact between standard Hybrid III, RID neck, volunteers and PMTO's. In: Proceedings of the 1995 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 13-15, 1995; Brunnen, Switzerland.261-270.
1995	Grafton AJ, Galer Flyte MD, King PD, Jackson MR. Pre-crash sensing of occupant characteristics and position: enhancing secondary safety system performance. In: Proceedings of the 1995 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 13-15, 1995; Brunnen, Switzerland.311-323.
1996	Eichberger A, Geigl BC, Moser A, Fachbach B, Steffan H, Hell W, Langwieder K. Comparison of different car seats regarding head-neck kinematics of volunteers during rear end impact. In: Proceedings of the 1996 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 11-13, 1996; Dublin, Ireland.153-164.
1997	Dippel C, Muser MH, Walz F, Niederer P, Kaeser R. Neck injury prevention in rear-impact crashes. In: Proceedings of the 1997 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 24-26, 1997; Hannover, Germany.239-250.
1997	Minton R, Murray P, Pitcher M, Galasko CSB. Causative factors in whiplash injury: implications for current seat and head restraint design. In: Proceedings of the 1997 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 24-26, 1997; Hannover, Germany.207-222.
1997	Ono K, Kaneoka K. Motion analysis of human cervical vertebrae during low speed rear impacts by the simulated sled. In: Proceedings of the 1997 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 24-26, 1997; Hannover, Germany.223-237.
1998	Hell W, Langwieder K, Walz F. Reported soft tissue neck injuries after rear-end car collisions. In: Proceedings of the 1998 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 16-18, 1998; Göteberg, Sweden.261-274.
1999	Hell W, Langwieder K, Walz F, Muser M, Kramer M, Hartwig E. Consequences for seat design due to rear end accident analysis, sled tests and possible test criteria for reducing cervical spine injuries after rear-end collision. In: Proceedings of the 1999 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 23-24, 1999; Sitges, Spain.243-259.
2000	Langwieder K, Hell W, Schick S, Muser M, Walz F, Zellmer H. Evolution of a dynamic seat test standard proposal for a better protection after rear-end impact. In: Proceedings of the 2000 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 20-22, 2000; Montpellier, France.393-409.
2000	Muser MH, Walz FH, Zellmer H. Biomechanical significance of the rebound phase in low speed rear end impacts. In: Proceedings of the 2000 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 20-22, 2000; Montpellier, France.411-424.
1995	Walz FH, Muser MH. Biomechanical aspects of cervical spine injuries. In: Proceedings of the SAE International Congress & Exposition. February 27–March 2, 1995; Detroit, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers. SAE 950658.
1999	Ono K, Kaneoka K. Motion analysis of human cervical vertebrae during low-speed rear impacts by the simulated sled. J Crash Prev Injury Control. 1999;1(2):87-99.
2002	Hell W, Schick S, Langwieder K, Zellmer H. Biomechanics of cervical spine injuries in rear end car impacts: influence of car seats and possible evaluation criteria. Traffic Inj Prev. 2002;3(2):127-140.
2002	Langwieder K, Hell W. Proposal of an international harmonized dynamic test standard for seats/head restraints. Traffic Inj Prev. 2002;3(2):150-158.