Technical Paper
Shoulder Response Characteristics and Injury Due to Lateral Glenohumeral Joint Impacts
2000-11-01
2000-01-SC18
The objective of this study was to determine response characteristics and injury of the shoulder due to lateral impacts. The need for this data was heightened in the 1990s with increasing interest in harmonization of side impact standards, and questions regarding the measurement capabilities of dummies used in evaluating side impacts. A pneumatic impacting ram was employed in carrying out twenty-two lateral impacts to eleven unembalmed human cadavers at the level of the glenohumeral joint. Velocity of the ram at the time of impact was varied throughout the impacts from 3.5 to 7.0 m/sec, in an attempt to determine injury threshold. The cadavers were instrumented with tri-axial accelerometer blocks at ten locations in the shoulder region. Bony structures instrumented included the sternum, the first thoracic vertebra (T1), clavicles and scapulae. Output from the accelerometers was utilized to calculate impact forces and to examine the movement of the instrumented structures.