Finite element analysis of traumatic blast shock on a brain phantom model

Abstract

More than 185,000 Veterans who use VA for their healthcare have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Protection against improvised explosive devices has improved to reduce fatalities, but there has not been much improvement in preventing traumatic injuries to the brain. TBIs occur when a sudden force causes damage to the brain and can result from the head suddenly and violently being hit by an object, striking an object, or being impacted by a nearby blast or explosion. Most brain injuries occur by direct impact with shock waves in war, with modern explosives being the primary reason for brain injuries. These intense shock waves can pose different types of injuries to brain tissue. When a shock wave hits, it can disrupt regular brain functions of the skull, cerebral spinal fluid, and brain. The primary objective of the present study is to investigate how traumatic brain shock affects the brain-skull interface at a predefined pressure. To this end, a finite element model was developed using CAD data obtained following the 3D scanning of a brain skull. In this regard, geometry cleanup operations were performed to remove imperfections due to 3D scanning to improve the mesh quality for finite element simulations. The final phantom model was a simplified CAD model representing the exact topography (i.e., shape and size) of the actual head. Within the numerical simulations, the head file was placed inside a round tube with a diameter of 3 inches. The findings of the present study could provide better insights regarding how the blast shock affects the brain tissue and how the interaction realizes between brain tissue and bone.