BIOENGINEERING ANALYSIS OF SIDE IMPACT INJURIES TO OLDER DRIVERS

描述(申请人提供)：这是一份修改后的申请表。侧面安全气囊在汽车世界中的使用越来越多。躯干侧安全气囊是为了保护乘员的胸部而设计的，通常与头帘侧安全气囊一起提供。现场数据主要是关于侧面安全气囊有效性的轶事，主要是因为它们还处于萌芽阶段。拟议项目的一个主要重点是评估躯干侧安全气囊相对于老年乘员的有效性。政府消费者碰撞测试的最新数据显示，躯干侧安全气囊并不总是能提高车辆的安全性能。此外，来自我们当地创伤中心的数据表明，59岁以上的乘客在类似的侧面碰撞中肋骨骨折的数量可能是年轻人的3到4倍。该项目的工作假设是，躯干侧安全气囊可以减轻胸部创伤，并且不会增加老年乘客胸腔的损伤范围。这一假设是基于生物力学知识，即当安全气囊放置正确时，会吸收能量，否则这些能量会在侧面碰撞中传递给乘员，从而将创伤降至最低。我们还假设，当失去位置的情况加上老司机的脆弱性时，受伤的风险和碰撞造成的伤害可能会产生综合效应。对于躯干侧安全气囊，在评估其有效性之前，需要清楚地定义这样的场景。我们的假设是，就像儿童是可能从正面安全气囊中受益的弱势群体一样，年龄较大的司机可能是从侧面安全气囊中受益的弱势群体。研究设计的特点包括使用全尺寸雪橇以代表现场数据的速度进行全身侧面碰撞模拟；使用代表现代车队的躯干侧安全气囊；使用各种传感器来获取胸部变形；以及详细的尸检，以仔细识别和记录受伤情况，包括肋骨骨折的数量。这种多方面的设计将在受控的实验室环境中复制对年轻和老年群体的在位和离位居住者的副作用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a revised application. Side airbags are increasingly used in the automotive world. Torso side airbags are designed to protect the chest of the occupant and are often available with head-curtain side airbags. Field data are primarily anecdotal regarding the efficacy of side airbags, principally because they are still nascent. A primary focus of the proposed project is to evaluate the efficacy of torso side airbags with respect to the older occupant. Recent data from government consumer crash tests reveals that torso side airbags do not always improve the safety performance of a vehicle. Also, data from our local trauma center indicates that occupants over 59 may have 3 or 4 times the number of rib fractures than a young person in a similar side impact crash. The working hypothesis of the project is that torso side airbags mitigate chest trauma and do not increase the injury spectrum to the rib cage of older occupants. The hypothesis is based on the biomechanical knowledge that, when properly positioned, airbags absorb energy, which would have otherwise been imparted to the occupant in a lateral impact, thus minimizing trauma. We also hypothesize that when an out-of-position scenario is added to the fragility of the older driver, the risk of injury and harm from the impact might have a combination effect. For torso side airbags, such scenarios need to be clearly defined before an evaluation of its efficacy can be made. It is our hypothesis that, just as children are the vulnerable group that may receive disbenefit from frontal airbags, the older driver may be the vulnerable group that receives disbenefit from side airbags. The characteristic features of the research design include the use of a full-scale sled to conduct whole-body side impact simulations at velocities representative of field data; the use of torso side airbags representative of the modern vehicle fleet; various transducers to obtain chest deformations; and a detailed autopsy to carefully identify and document injuries, including number of rib fractures. This multifaceted design will duplicate side impacts in a controlled laboratory environment for in-position and out-of-position occupants for young and old age groups.