Development And Simulation Analysis Of Three-Year-old Children Head FE Model

Children suffer a greater risk of head injury compared to adults. Also, the anatomicalstructures of the child head are quite different from those of the adult head. The lateststudy indicates that child head can cause severe injury than adult in the sameconditions. However, the damage criterions for child head are based on the data ofPMHST (Past Mortal Human Subject Test) currently, the development of childrendummy as well. Consequently, the depth injury biomechanics researches on childrenwere handicapped for the low accuracy of child dummy. The simulation analysis ofaccurate brain FE model as a useful tool on the research of brain injury can receive anexact brain response, predict the better brain injury and decrease the child head injury.But accurate head FE models are still limited especially the child head contributes thevital status on children injury. As a result, to build an accurate child head models andcommence on the child head injury biomechanics research has an engineeringsignificance and a practical value.In this study, according to three-year-old child specific head tissue organic texture,ANSYS ICEM CFD/HEXA and HYPERMESH software were applied to develop ahigh quality detailed child head FE model on the foundation of the adult head FEmodels, some of the child head experiment and animal head biomechanics experimentdata. The major anatomical structures of FE head model include cerebrum, corpuscallosum, brainstem, cerebellum, falx, tentorium, combined pia-arachnoid complexwith cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF), dura, skull and scalp. Using multi-block techniques,an efficient meshing process to develop all-hexahedral FE brain models for a pediatricbrain (three-year-old) was demonstrated in this study. Furthermore, the mesh densitiescould be adjusted at ease using block techniques. Such an advantage can accommodatea mesh convergence study and allows more freedom for choosing an appropriate brainmesh density by balancing available computation power and prediction accuracy.Three kinds of mesh densities brain tissue models have been found in this study.According to the three kinds of mesh densities brain tissue models, LS-DYNAsoftware were applied to pursue simulation to export head FE models’ differentlocation’s stress response. Then the influence caused by the different mesh densities onthe brain response and the calculation time-consuming can be received. Meanwhile,MADYMO software was applied to rebuilt a typical fall accident case of thethree-year-old child head FE model, and then complete the simulation analysis in the LS-DYNA software. Comparing the analysis of simulation results with the injury ofthe accident, the competent biological fidelity of the three-year-old child head FEmodel built in this study was validated, which can be used in the follow-up depthbiomechanics investigation.