Search Results

For the purpose of increasing available knowledge of human dynamic response and tolerance to thoracic impact, and experimental investigation of both blunt and localized impacts to embalmed and unembalmed human cadavers is being carried out. This is a progress report to date. Force and deflection time histories resulting from midsternal A-P impacts over a six inch diameter area and from blows localized near the costo-chrondral junctions were measured and cross plotted to provide dynamic force-deflection characteristics. The extent of skeletal damage was assessed by both radiological examination and thoracic dissection and is presented in relation to the impact parameters. X-ray assessment of rib fracture damage was found to be inadequate, revealing on the average less than half of the fractures confirmed by dissection.

The purpose of this paper is to present a comparison of whole body, target impingement knee impact response for a Part 572 dummy versus that for anthropometrically similar embalmed human cadavers. “Response” is defined here to include the impact force-time history as sensed by 1) femur load cells, and 2) impingement target load cells for the dummy and by the target load cells for the cadavers. The data presented demonstrate significantly higher peak forces and correspondingly shorter pulse durations for the dummy than for the companion cadaver subjects under similar test conditions and at all velocity levels investigated. For the dummy, the ratio of forces measured by the femur load cells to those measured by the impingement target load cells averaged eight tenths.