Experimental Device for Simulating Traumatic Brain Injury Resulting from Linear Accelerations

Various methods are used to model and analyse traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the human.
These include volunteer and cadaver experiments, anthropomorphic dummies, physical
models, computational models and mathematical models. The pathophysiological response
to mechanical impact of the human central nervous system and of in-vivo neural tissue is
most realistically analysed using animal models, which provide the best surrogate for the
human brain. During non-fatal impacts, a mechanical insult may trigger a cascade of
physiological processes, many mediated by neurochemicals within the neural tissue which
will, in turn, control the depth and extent of the brain injury. This present paper reports the
development of a novel experimental device which can apply different linear acceleration
impacts directly to in-vivo neural tissue in a manner which permits the experimental analysis
of non-fatal TBI of varying severity.