Computational modelling of head and brain injury in vulnerable populations

Safety engineering to prevent or mitigate against head injuries is largely based upon injury criteria or computational modelling that are specific to young adult heads and brains. This has proved extremely successful for relevant applications such as seatbelt and airbag design and motorcycle helmet construction. However, differences in brain mass and volume and tissue strengths greatly reduce the usefulness of such models when applied to current issues such as falls in the elderly and intraventricular haemorrhage in premature babies.


The project will develop models that are specific to such vulnerable populations based on appropriate geometries and tissue properties with a view to their application to such interventions as the design and specification of hospital and care home flooring and neonatal transport restraint systems