How Your Head Moves Matters: Exploring Brain Safety in Accidents

August 22, 2023, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

A recent paper published in The American Society of Mechanical Engineers helps scientists understand the mechanics of traumatic brain injury.  Effect of Direction and Frequency of Skull Motion on Mechanical Vulnerability of the Human Brain explores the kinds of strain and energy on the brain and has drawn interesting conclusions.

Concussion and brain injury are very poorly understood. Imagine having a tool that lets scientists see how your brain reacts to bumps and impacts. Well, that tool exists, and it's called Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE). Scientists are using MRE to study how the direction and force of hits to the head affect the brain. This helps us learn about how injuries happen and how we might be able to prevent them.

What's MRE?

Magnetic Resonance Elastography might sound complex, but it's basically a way to see how stiff or soft your brain is. Imagine you're poking a piece of dough - if it's tough, it won't move much, but if it's soft, it'll squish. MRE helps understand how your brain reacts when your head gets bumped or shaken.

Different Ways Your Head Moves

Scientists wanted to know what happens when your head gets pushed or shaken in different ways. They tested two directions: side-to-side and front-to-back. Imagine someone giving you a gentle shove from the side versus pushing you forward. These tests helped scientists see how your brain moves inside your skull during different kinds of impacts.

The Speed Matters Too

Think about bouncing on a trampoline - if you bounce slowly, it's different from bouncing fast. In the same way, scientists wanted to know if the speed of the impact affects your brain. They tried out different speeds, like slow bumps and quicker jolts, to see how your brain responds.

What the Study Found

The scientists discovered something interesting. When your head gets pushed from the side (like in a car crash), your brain is more likely to get hurt than when it's pushed from the front or back. This is important because it helps us understand why certain accidents might be riskier for brain injuries.

Why It Matters

Knowing how your brain reacts to different hits and shakes is a big deal. It helps doctors and engineers make things safer. For example, they can design better helmets or create rules to make cars safer in case of accidents. It also helps lawyers and judges understand how accidents can cause brain injuries, which is important in legal cases.

What's Next?

The study's findings are just the beginning. Scientists will keep using MRE and other tools to learn even more. This knowledge could lead to better ways to protect your brain and prevent injuries. So, the next time you hear about research like this, know that it's all about keeping you and your brain safe.

Thanks to technology like Magnetic Resonance Elastography, we're learning how your brain reacts when accidents happen. By studying how your head moves and how fast it moves, scientists are figuring out why certain accidents might be more dangerous for your brain. This helps experts design better safety gear and understand how accidents can lead to injuries.

If you or a loved one has had a brain injury as a result of a car accident, slip and fall or other accident caused by someone else call us today for  a free consultation.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.