A novel simplified 3D skull model to predict cranial fracture patterns

Abstract

Skull fracture is a major cause of head injury involving high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The study of fracture patterns is decisive to determine the factors involved in the cause of death or injury. Furthermore, in-depth evaluation of these patterns can generate very valuable knowledge to further design and manufacture more efficient and secure protective equipment, as well as, innovative cranial implants. Fracture propagation has been studied in several works using post-mortem skulls or complex finite element models; however, injury patters resulted to be complicated and very difficult to understand. In this study, a simplification of a real human skull to perform biomechanical tests is considered. In a first step, a 3D model of a cranium is designed, following expert medical indications. The new model is used to simulate and evaluate several impact forces and their fracture patterns. The results obtained confirm the stress propagation shown in previous studies using post-mortem skulls. Moreover, they validate the simplified 3D model as simpler and effective tool to perform mechanical behaviour tests.

Keywords:

• skull simplification
• fracture patterns
• FE modelling
• skull biomechanics

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the department of Medicine from the University of Girona, and the Center for Information Technology Renato Archer for the facilities provided during the experiments and all their valuable support.