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- Cloots, Rudy J.H., et al.
(author)
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Multi-scale mechanics of traumatic brain injury : predicting axonal strains from head loads
- 2013
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In: Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1617-7959 .- 1617-7940. ; 12:1, s. 137-150
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The length scales involved in the development of diffuse axonal injury typically range from the head level (i.e., mechanical loading) to the cellular level. The parts of the brain that are vulnerable to this type of injury are mainly the brainstem and the corpus callosum, which are regions with highly anisotropically oriented axons. Within these parts, discrete axonal injuries occur mainly where the axons have to deviate from their main course due to the presence of an inclusion. The aim of this study is to predict axonal strains as a result of a mechanical load at the macroscopic head level. For this, a multi-scale finite element approach is adopted, in which a macro-level head model and a micro-level critical volume element are coupled. The results show that the axonal strains cannot be trivially correlated to the tissue strain without taking into account the axonal orientations, which indicates that the heterogeneities at the cellular level play an important role in brain injury and reliable predictions thereof. In addition to the multi-scale approach, it is shown that a novel anisotropic equivalent strain measure can be used to assess these micro-scale effects from head-level simulations only.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- van Dommelen, JAW, et al.
(author)
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Mechanics of Traumatic Brain Injury at Multiple Length Scales
- 2010
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In: Proceedings of the 16th US National Congress on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, State College.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Current numerical head models predict the response of the brain based on a geometrically homogeneous anatomical structure. However, these models often lack the detailed anatomy of the heterogeneous structures within the head and an accurate description of the constitutive response of the brain tissue. A nonlinear constitutive model for brain tissue has been developed and validated. The consequences of meso-level heterogeneities in the brain for the development of traumatic brain injury have been investigated, as well as the orientationdependent sensitivity of brain tissue to mechanical loads based on a cellular injury mechanism.
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