Citation

Isa MI, Fenton TW, Wei F, Haut RC. Forensic Sci. Int. 2019; 300: 51-62.

Affiliation

Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratories, Michigan State University, 965 Fee Rd., East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States. Electronic address: haut@msu.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.04.003

PMID

31075567

Abstract

The relationship between the point of blunt impact and the location of cranial fracture initiation continues to be poorly understood. The current study used high-speed video to capture cranial fracture initiation and propagation in impact experiments on twelve unembalmed, intact human cadaver heads. Video footage provided direct evidence that blunt cranial impacts can produce linear fractures initiating peripheral to the impact site. Four tests produced only remote peripheral linear fractures with no damage at the known point of impact, demonstrating that the pattern of linear fractures does not necessarily indicate impact site. The range of variation observed in these experiments suggests that cranial fracture formation is more complex than it is typically described in the current literature. Differences in biomechanical and fracture results obtained with three different shaped implements provided evidence that impact surface is one important factor influencing the outcomes of blunt cranial impacts.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Blunt force trauma; Cranial fracture; Forensic anthropology; Forensic biomechanics; Forensic science; Trauma analysis