Overview
The number of victims of road accidents remains high in the EU (around 42.000 deaths and 1.6 million injured). The most exposed population is the range of 15 to 24 years old. Statistics shows that head injuries are a significant cause of death and disability among road users.
In order to contribute to the containment of this public calamity, a research programme on the biomechanics of head trauma was initiated as part of PREDIT in 2003.
The objective of the project is to develop a cranium-cephalic damage prediction tool for the evaluation and development of systems of protection of the head in a collision
The approach is based on the development of a model of the human head to realistically simulate the dynamic response of the head subjected to shock but also to replicate the main mechanisms that lead to injury. The model was used for the reconstruction of particularly documented real accidents to be compared with the intra cranial lesions observed with mechanical parameters calculated with the model. Three types of accidents involving vulnerable road users have been taken into account: those involving pedestrians, motorcyclists and the drivers of motor vehicles in a position of a side impact.
Funding
Results
This project contributed to suggest new and more realistic criteria for traumatic head and brain injuries improving the HIC (Head Injury Criteria) system.
The integration of the model of the head in a motorcycle helmet model eventually led to the optimization of this motorcyclist protection system.