A representative finite element human head model would allow the assessment of the injurious effects of different impact conditions and enable the development of enhanced head injury and protection criteria in the automotive environment. The fresh CT scans were used for the skull model and the MRI images for the brain model. The first approach to validate the model and to investigate different boundary conditions by using experimental data are shown. This remains true even with the introduction of enhanced restraint technology into all new cars and with the high levels of seat belt use. As the human body's responses to impact are still very different from the responses of current ATD's, models of human body parts or segments are needed to obtain more realistic information about each body part's responses in crash events and to analyse various impact situations.
Mathematical models are valuable tools in the study of trauma.
They can be used to predict body response to injury-producing conditions that cannot be simulated experimentally, and they can predict responses that cannot be measured in surrogate and animal experiments. Most important, mathematical modeling is the only means by which valid experimental animal and cadaveric data can be extrapolated to living man. Finite element analysis appears to be the most appropriate technique for analysing the complex geometrical and mechanical properties of human structures. Limitations to finite element modelling in the past were due to the assumptions and approximations incorporated in those models. These simplifications were necessary as finite element methods and CPU were restricted.