Development and Validation of Nonhuman Primate Head-Neck Computational Model for Frontal Impact Injury Analysis

Severe cervical spine injuries are rare in an automobile crash, however, the recovery for an individual is difficult. With no suitable surrogate in the laboratory setting, the exact head-neck (HN) response to severe impact accelerations is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a nonhuman primate (NHP) HN model and validate it using a historic NHP kinematic dataset that tested noninjury, as well as injury-inducing impact accelerations. The geometry of the NHP HN model was constructed from a previously CT-scanned skeleton and idealized as a two-dimensional quadrilateral shell mesh. Inertial properties of the vertebra and skull were defined, as well as 1D beam elements representing the spinal ligaments and discs. The model was then driven at the T1 vertebra using a literature-derived 10G acceleration curve to simulate frontal impact. Output peak Head X-acceleration was measured at 19.8G, which fell within the average peak response of 18.8 ± 4.6 G. Capsular ligament and interspinous ligament strains were measured along the cervical spine and the relative magnitudes were consistent with areas of likely injury at more severe impact accelerations. Once tested at more severe impact accelerations, this NHP HN model will provide a suitable way to study potential human cervical spine dynamics during frontal impact.