Evaluation of Brain Deformation Behavior During Heading Using a Novel Headform

Abstract

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has become a concern in soccer. A possible mechanism of CTE is related to pressure waves which propagate on the brain and shear deformation caused by rotational head motion. To evaluate the brain deformation behavior during head impact, a novel headform which can measure the brain acceleration and angular velocity has been developed. In this study, we compared the results of the ball heading tests using the headform and their reconstruction simulation using a finite element model of a human to investigate whether the linear acceleration waveforms at the brain sensors of the headform capture the characteristics of the pressure waveforms. The characteristics of linear acceleration waveforms measured by the headform were generally consistent with the linear acceleration waveforms obtained by simulations. Also, comparison of the linear acceleration and pressure waveforms showed that the linear acceleration waveforms capture the characteristics of the pressure waveforms for each impact condition.