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Park, Yang, Lee, Park, Hong, Yoo, and Kim: A Study of Impact on Head and Neck Using Human Volunteer Low-Speed Rear Impact Tests
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Korean J Leg Med 2013;37(2):66-72.

Published online: 17 January 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2013.37.2.66

A Study of Impact on Head and Neck Using Human Volunteer Low-Speed Rear Impact Tests

Sung-Ji Park1, Kyungmoo Yang2, Hong-Seok Lee1, Nam-Kyu Park1, Seong Woo Hong3, Jae-Ho Yoo4, Hansung Kim5

1Traffic Engineering Div., Forensic Science Dept., National Forensic Service, Seoul, Korea

2Western District Office, National Forensic Service, Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam, Korea

3Traffic Accident Div., Forensic Engineering Research Institute, Seoul, Korea

4Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul Sky Hospital, Seoul, Korea

5Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju-si, Gangwon, Korea

책임저자 : 홍성우 (151-742) 서울시 관악구 관악로 1 서울대학교 신소재공동연구소 317호 전화 : +82-2-880-8625 FAX : +82-2-872-7109 E-mail : realityz23@gmail.com 공동 책임저자 : 양경무 (515-820) 전라남도 장성군 서삼면 축령 로 687 국립과학수사연구원 서부분원 전화 : +82-61-393-8445 FAX : +82-61-393-8444 E-mail : rudany@korea.kr

Received 29 April 2013       Revised 15 May 2013       Accepted 22 May 2013

Copyright © 2013 The Korean Society for Legal Medicine

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Whiplash injury in low-speed traffic accidents are not objectively verified by medical equipment, thereby creating scope for misuse, which has resulted in huge social losses worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of low-speed vehicular rear-impact collisions on middle-aged men, and to analyze the head and neck injury criteria for the symptomatic human volunteers. Data was examined from the results of 50 dynamic sled tests, originally performed by Hong et al. (2012). In the previous tests, 50 men aged 30�50 years were exposed to an impulse equivalent to a bumper-to-bumper rear collision under medical supervision, and no resulting whiplash injury was identified. In this study, for 6 subjects who experienced dull aches over their bodies, head injury criteria (HIC15) and neck injury criteria (Nkm) were calculated according to the accelerations, forces, and moments at the occipital condyle measured by motion capture system. Although there were no changes in magnetic resonance imaging findings in all subjects at the pre-/post-test orthopedic examination, 6 subjects revealed mild aches around the shoulder, back, or lumbar area, and their symptoms disappeared within 2 days. The head and neck injury criteria, HIC15 (3.086 ± 2.942) and Nkm (0.077 ± 0.064) were obtained, and the maximum HIC15 and Nkm were found to be significantly lower than the critical injury assessment reference values (HIC15: 700, Nkm: 0.3). Moreover, even though 2 subjects were exposed to the same level of change of velocity (7.9 km/h), each Nkm was significantly different (0.179, 0.057). One can therefore conclude that Nkm can vary according to voluntary movements in the human subject.

Keywords: Key Words, Whiplash injuries, Human experimentation, Automobiles, Traffic accidents

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Fig. 1.
Schematic diagrams of grading system of cervical canal stenosis in sagittal scans of cervical spines. According to this scheme, MRIs of human subjects were classified.
kjlm-37-66f1.tif
Fig. 2.
Examples of human volunteers'MRI grades. Grade 1 denotes obliteration of more than 50% of subarachnoid space without any sign of cord deformity. Grade 2 denotes central canal stenosis with spinal cord deformity. a) Grade 1 b) Grade 2 c) Grade 3
kjlm-37-66f2.tif
Fig. 3.
Movement of a human volunteer (No. 44) at 7.9 ㎞/h of change of velocity. Momentarily, human subject experienced extension and then flexion with 200 ms. Appropriate usage of a headrest can prevent hyper-extension.
kjlm-37-66f3.tif
Fig. 4.
Comparison of neck injury criteria. Nkm has no unit because of normalization by critical values of shear force and bending moment.
kjlm-37-66f4.tif
Table 1.
Test Summary (Age, Weight, Stature, Pre-Test Medical Check-up, Change of Velocity, Post-Test Check-up, Symptoms)
No. Age Wt. (㎏) Ht. (㎝) MRI ΔV (㎞/h) Symptom (duration) No. Age Wt. (㎏) Ht. (㎝) MRI ΔV (㎞/h) Symptom (duration)
01 39 85 171 2 4.7 Normal 26 48 74 171 0 6.2 Normal
02 47 70 178 1 6.0 Normal 27 40 49 165 1 6.6 Normal
03 43 64 170 1 4.8 Normal 28 47 69 169 2 6.0 Normal
04 47 60 165 0 5.0 Normal 29 46 62 163 1 6.5 Lumbar dull ache† (< 0.5 days)
                       
05 47 73 166 1 5.0 Normal 30 49 76 181 2 6.2 Shoulder dull ache† (< 2 days)
                       
06 47 65 165 2 5.0 Normal 31 49 60 167 0 7.4 Normal
07 33 68 170 0 4.9 Normal 32 51 60 165 1 6.6 Normal
08 33 58 176 1 5.1 Normal 33 49 46 166 2 7.6 Normal
∗09∗ 34 65 173 0 4.9 Normal 34 51 85 173 0 7.1 Normal
10 52 65 163 1 5.4 Normal 35 50 66 167 1 7.5 Normal
11 42 86 171 1 5.2 Normal 36 43 72 172 1 7.0 Normal
12 49 80 173 1 5.3 Normal 37 51 67 165 1 7.3 Normal
13 43 70 178 1 5.5 Normal 38 51 68 173 1 7.2 Normal
14 47 70 178 1 5.0 Normal 39 47 65 173 0 7.6 Lumbar dull ache† (< 2 days)
                       
∗15∗ 49 66 170 1 5.3 Normal ∗40∗ 49 59 170 2 8.0 Normal
16 33 87 178 1 5.3 Normal 41 53 64 162 1 6.5 Normal
17 42 68 170 1 5.3 Normal 42 46 69 174 0 7.0 Normal
18 42 53 165 0 5.6 Normal 43 39 64 173 0 7.8 Normal
19 46 73 169 0 5.2 Normal 44 32 87 180 1 7.9 Shoulder dull ache†
                          (<2 days)
∗20∗ 46 63 173 1 5.5 Normal 45 32 66 168 0 8.1 Normal
21 51 65 162 2 6.4 Normal 46 46 71 170 1 7.9 Back dull ache† (< 2 days)
                       
22 46 70 163 2 6.5 Normal 47 36 79 178 1 7.8 Normal
23 51 80 177 0 6.2 Normal 48 32 82 171 1 6.6 Normal
24 52 59 171 1 6.5 Normal 49 40 72 175 0 7.8 Normal
25 50 78 175 1 7.0 Lumbar dull ache† (< 1 days) 50 36 70 174 1 7.9 Normal
              51† 33 67 180 0 9.8 Slight muscle stiffness on left trapezius† (< 4 hours)

∗ : Braced;

† : All symptoms disappeared naturally without any medical treatment;

† : Volunteer among researchers

Table 2.
Description of Cervical Spine Status of the Symptomatic Individuals
Subject Age (year) MRI (pre-test) MRI (post-test) Symptom (duration)
No. 25 50 - Mild degeneration of intervertebral disc with posterolateral protrusion, C5-6 No change Lumbar dull ache (< 1 days)
No. 29 46 - Multiple level disc degeneration, C3-6 - Protrusion of soft and hard disc, C5-6 with effacement of cerabrospinal fluid space - Hypertrophy of ligamentum flavum, C5-6 No change Lumbar dull ache (< 0.5 days)
No. 30 49 - Protrusion of soft and hard disc, C5, 6 with effacement of cerebrospinal fluid space No change Shoulder dull ache (< 2 days)
    - Hypertrophy of ligamentum flavum, C4-6 - Hernation of C5-6 intervertebral disc and hypertrophy of posterior rim of end plate (hard disc) with entrapment of spinal canal, central to left    
No. 39 47 - Multiple level disc degeneration, C3-6 - Mild degeneration of intervertebral disc with posterolateral protrusion, C5-6 No change Lumbar dull ache (< 2 days)
No. 44 32 - Multiple level disc degeneration, C4-7 - Mild degenerated of intervertebral disc with posterolateral protrusion, C5-6 No change Shoulder dull ache (< 2 days)
No. 46 46 - Protrusion of disc C3-4 - Herniation of C5-6, C6-7 intervertebral disc and protrusion to central spinal canal No change (< 2 days) Back dull ache
Table 3.
Comp parison of Responses and Injury Criteria Values of the Symptomatic Individuals
Subject ΔV (㎞/h) MRI - HIC15∗ - Head max. accel (G) Headrest max. impulse (㎏f) Nkm † - accel (G) Chest max. impulse (㎏f) Backseat max.
No. 25 7.0 1 1.585 07.0 2.8 0.120 04.7 098.1
No. 29 6.5 1 0.478 04.0 3.4 0.001 03.7 123.5
No. 30 6.5 2 0.842 05.1 2.6 0.030 03.0 096.0
No. 39 7.6 0 6.058 11.7 1.7 0.074 06.3 099.4
No. 44 7.9 1 2.072 06.9 1.2 0.179 10.2 114.5
No. 46 7.9 1 7.483 14.1 6.2 0.057 17.1 124.4

∗ HIC15: Head injury criteria;

† Nkm: Neck injury criteria

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