Biomechanical analysis of blast-induced traumatic brain injury

Materials and Methods: To investigate the mechanical response of human brain to blast waves and to identify the injury mechanisms of TBI, a three-dimensional finite elementhead model consisting of the scalp, skull, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain was developed from    the imaging data of a human head.The mechanical properties of brain tissue were obtained from  the literature.

Results: Throughout the loading regime, CSF acted as a protective layer for brain tissue by absorbing shear strain energy. Biomechanical loading of the brain was governed by direct wave transmission, structural deformations, and wave reflections from tissue-material interfaces.

Conclusion: The brain experiences a complex set of direct and indirect loadings emanating from different sources (reflections from tissue interfaces and skull deformation) at different points of time. The flow dynamics strongly depend on geometry (shape, curvature) and structure (flexural rigidity, thickness) of a specimen and should be considered in understanding biomechanical loading pattern.