Fundamentals of Injury Biomechanics

This open textbook is still being drafted by the students of MECH 436/536 (UBC), and the students of ENGG*6190 (University of Guelph). This means that the book is still being worked on and information may be incomplete. If you have any questions, please start a discussion on the talk page.

Biomechanics is the application of the principles of mechanics in the analysis of biological systems. The field of injury biomechanics, which is also called impact biomechanics or trauma biomechanics, is focused on understanding the behaviour of human beings and our organs, bones and other tissues at the point of mechanical or functional failure which corresponds to injury. The applications of injury biomechanics are numerous and it is the discipline centrally involved in the conception and development of devices we think of as “safety equipment” such as:

• Automotive Restraints – What are the functional requirements of seat belts and airbags?
• Automotive Design – How should a vehicle be best designed to mitigate injury to a pedestrian?
• Sports Equipment – How thick should gymnastics mats be? How deep should the pool be for racing starts at a swim meet?
• Helmets – How should a bicycle helmet differ from a hockey helmet and why?

Injury biomechanics is also central to improving our understanding of human injury mechanisms when this is necessary to enable novel clinical treatments to be developed. For example: What are the strain rates within the various tissues of the brain during an impact to the head causing a concussion?

About this Book

This open textbook will provide an overview of fundamental concepts and techniques that are presently in use in this field and the tolerance of various human systems to injury. It is currently being developed by students in MECH 436/536 (UBC) and ENGG*6190 (University of Guelph).

Table of Contents

Section 1: Methods in injury Biomechanics

• Instruments and Experiments
• Post-Mortem Human Surrogates (PMHS)
• Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATD)
• Sled and Crash Tests
• Accident Reconstruction
• Math Models
• Injury Criteria
• Injury Scales
• Injury Databases
• Medical Records

Section 2: Injury Tolerance

• Head
• Brain
• Spine
• Spinal Cord
• Thorax
• Abdomen
• Pelvis
• Upper Extremity
• Lower Extremity
• Skin

Section 3: Injury Prevention

• Helmet
• Seatbelt
• Airbag
• Rollover
• Pedestrian
• Infrastructure
• Mouthguards
• Sports
• Other Injury Prevention

Contribute

Please visit Documentation:FIB for the workspace for developing this book.

Contact

UBC MECH 436/536: Agnes d’Entremont, PhD, P.Eng.

• Office Hours: KAIS 1130 -- Most Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 – 1 pm, or by appointment
  
• Communication: Email communication is welcome. Please put “MECH 436/536” in the subject.