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In an earlier series of papers, we reported on the results of a study of frontal impacts to cadaver heads which were protected and unprotected. New data is presented to quantify head response to laterally directed impacts. The temporo-parietal area of the head in stationary unembalmed cadaver subjects was struck by a rigid impactor mass. Both helmeted and unhelmeted exposures were compared. Data collected included impactor energy, intracranial pressures at selected locations, and composite analyses from a nine accelerometer array system. In addition the data was entered into a finite element head model. Stresses and strains were predicted for various intracranial locations. The applicability of head injury indices in understanding lateral head impact are commented on.

This study continues previous experimental studies which review the characteristics of the side impact exposure to the human head. We conducted a series of two experiments. The first series included four sequential impacts which were performed on a single embalmed specimen. This series of impacts showed a good correspondence between peak head acceleration and HIC and confirmed the adequacy of instrument placement and data analysis. The second series studied five impacts performed on individual unembalmed cadavers. The results suggest that side impacts produced pressure gradients in the brain. These superimposed gradients were proportional to the magnitudes of the head acceleration components. The largest component was found to be in the direction of impact and produced positive pressures near the impact and negative pressures opposite the impact. We found that a pressure limiting mechanism acted on the contra-coup side of the brain.