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01-03-2020 | Skull Fracture | Original Article

Threshold of the skull injury for blunt force impacts under free and constraint boundary conditions

Authors: Lea Siegenthaler, Michael Strehl, Alessio Vaghi, Philippe Zysset, Beat P. Kneubuehl, Martin Frenz

Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine | Issue 2/2020

Abstract

The formation of skull fractures is an important topic in legal medicine. In particular, the influence of boundary conditions is controversially discussed in the literature. A study focusing solely on this aspect was missing. This study aimed to investigate the influence of boundary conditions on the energy threshold for head fractures. Because of the great variability of biological tissue of real skulls, we opted for a head model made from a polyurethane sphere filled with gelatin. Furthermore, we decided to investigate two opposite situations: A fixed configuration where a model was placed on a rigid surface and a (quasi) free boundary configuration where the head model was held at a force of 5 N compensating for gravity. For both configurations, we determined the acceleration signal of the impactor, the force, and the energy threshold for head fracture. It turned out that the fracture forces for both configurations were the same whereas the energy threshold was 11.0 J for the fixed and 13.6 J for the free boundary. The difference seems to be negligible if compared to the effect of varying structural mechanical properties of real human heads. This means that in a forensic case, the two situations most probably cannot be distinguished. To investigate the influence of the impactor mass, we developed a mathematical model and fitted the experimental data. As a result, we found that in the free configuration, a larger mass increases the energy threshold for head fracture. So that in principle, the two configurations are distinguishable.

In comparison to real long bones (e.g., hemurus) Frankenberg et al. [18] found a lower fracture force for polyurethane cylinders.

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Title: Threshold of the skull injury for blunt force impacts under free and constraint boundary conditions
Authors: Lea Siegenthaler
Michael Strehl
Alessio Vaghi
Philippe Zysset
Beat P. Kneubuehl
Martin Frenz
Publication date: 01-03-2020
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Keyword: Skull Fracture
Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine / Issue 2/2020
Print ISSN: 0937-9827
Electronic ISSN: 1437-1596
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02023-2

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Springer Medicine

Threshold of the skull injury for blunt force impacts under free and constraint boundary conditions

Abstract

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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