Technical Paper
Development of an Improved Thoracic Injury Criterion
1998-11-02
983153
In an effort to better understand thoracic trauma in frontal impacts, seventy-one frontal impact sled tests were conducted using post-mortem human subjects in the driver's position. Various contemporary automotive restraint systems were used in these tests. The post-mortem subjects were instrumented with accelerometers and chest bands to characterize their mechanical response during the impact. The resulting injury from the impact was determined through radiography and detailed autopsy and its severity was coded according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale. The measured mechanical responses were analyzed using statistical procedures. In particular, linear logistic regression was used to develop models which associate the measured mechanical parameters to the observed thoracic injury response. Univariate and multivariate models were developed taking into consideration potential confounders and effect modifiers.