@article{ref1,
title="Materials characterization of cranial simulants for blast-induced traumatic brain injury",
journal="Military medicine",
year="2020",
author="Wermer, Anna and Kerwin, Joseph and Welsh, Kelsea and Mejia-Alvarez, Ricardo and Tartis, Michaelann and Willis, Adam",
volume="185",
number="Suppl 1",
pages="205-213",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: The mechanical response of brain tissue to high-speed forces in the blast and blunt traumatic brain injury is poorly understood. Object-to-object variation and interspecies differences are current limitations in animal and cadaver studies conducted to study damage mechanisms. Biofidelic and transparent tissue simulants allow the use of high-speed optical diagnostics during a blast event, making it possible to observe deformations and damage patterns for comparison to observed injuries seen post-mortem in traumatic brain injury victims. <br><br>METHODS: Material properties of several tissue simulants were quantified using standard mechanical characterization techniques, that is, shear rheometric, tensile, and compressive testing. <br><br>RESULTS: Polyacrylamide simulants exhibited the best optical and mechanical property matching with the fewest trade-offs in the design of a cranial test object. Polyacrylamide gels yielded densities of ~1.04 g/cc and shear moduli ranging 1.3-14.55 kPa, allowing gray and white matter simulant tuning to a 30-35% difference in shear for biofidelity. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These materials are intended for use as layered cranial phantoms in a shock tube and open field blasts, with focus on observing phenomena occurring at the interfaces of adjacent tissue simulant types or material-fluid boundaries. Mechanistic findings from these studies may be used to inform the design of protective gear to mitigate blast injuries.<br><br>Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2020.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0026-4075",
doi="10.1093/milmed/usz228",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usz228"
}