About REDIPhE

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the most devastating types of injury, and it results in varying degrees of loss of consciousness, amnesia, neurological deficits, and even death.

The effects of TBI are not limited to an individual’s health; it also will create a financial burden for families and societies. In western societies TBI is the first cause of death or permanent disability for people under 44 years of age. Understanding the mechanism of injury is essential to reduce the consequences of head impacts and prevent brain trauma.

Once the mechanism of brain injury is properly described, protection technologies can then be developed to aid in their prevention. Often TBI are caused by impacts occurring while the person is involved in ‘dynamic activities’ such as cycling, motorcycling, skiing, horse riding … or working. Therefore in many cases the injured person is wearing a helmet to reduce the consequences of possible impacts. Safety helmets are currently designed according to standards that aim at reducing the maximum acceleration transmitted to the centre of gravity of the head. Standard tests are reasonable and very simple but they do not take into account the impact response of the human head.

In the present project three very detailed finite element models of human head were developed (woman, man and teenager) and they were coupled with innovative helmet models. The two main novel ideas are:

• Generation of very detailed and bio-faithful head models to be coupled with innovative helmet models so that helmets are assessed according to the maximum strain and strain rate induced in the brain tissues by an impact.
• Introduction, as energy dissipating liner, of a hierarchical lattice structure to be manufactured with 3D printing technology.

The main outcome of the project is a new generation of helmets, designed according to human needs and not only to pass conventional standard tests, which provides increased protection to the public and save human lives.