Abstract
The aim of this study is to monitor and describe physically the natural response of the head to rapid deceleration. The methodology of using an impact simulator was adopted for simulating a load which is applied to the passengers wearing a seat belt in a head-on collision of a car at the speed of 30 km/h.
Furthermore, a series of comparative tests of two versions (impact with and without a blindfold) were conducted to determine the influence of vision, consciousness on risk and seriousness of trauma and the results were compared with the measurements on a dummy. Considering head injuries that occur while rapid decelerating, at low speed there is no direct contact between the head and a solid obstacle (car interior), thus no head injuries are listed.
The head acceleration in three axes and the neck muscle activity (EMG) were scanned. The values of the head acceleration were obtained through the accelerometers fixed on the participants' forehead; furthermore, the acceleration on the impact desk was measured.
The whole scenery of the impact was even monitored by Qualysis and a digital video camera which enabled slow motion recording. The HIC (Head Injury Criterion) and 3ms criterion were employed to compare the seriousness of the head injury.