Citation

Camacho DL, Nightingale RW, Myers BS. J. Biomech. Eng. 2001; 123(5): 432-439.

Affiliation

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0281, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, American Society of Mechanical Engineers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11601728

Abstract

A validated computational head-neck model was used to understand the mechanical relationships between surface padding characteristics and injury risk during impacts near the head vertex. The study demonstrated that injury risk can be decreased by maximizing the energy-dissipating ability of the pad, choosing a pad stiffness that maximizes pad deformation without bottoming out, maximizing pad thickness, and minimizing surface friction. That increasing pad thickness protected the head without increasing neck loads suggests that the increased cervical spine injury incidence previously observed in cadaveric impacts to padded surfaces relative to lubricated rigid surfaces was due to increased surface friction rather than pocketing of the head in the pad.