Advanced Bicycle Helmet Technology for Prevention of Traumatic Brain Injury

描述(申请人提供)：创伤性脑损伤(TBI)是一种获得性神经疾病，可导致长期残疾，治疗选择有限。因此，必须在高风险活动中强调预防战略，以减少这种普遍伤害造成的个人和社会负担。自行车活动占所有活动的20% 与运动相关的脑损伤，在美国每年有4.2万人受伤。为了减少这种情况的发生 对于这些头部损伤的严重性，现在建议使用头盔，在一些州还强制要求。然而，现代自行车头盔的设计并不是为了减轻头部旋转加速，而旋转头部加速是脑外伤的一个明显的物理机制。因此，提出了一种采用高冲击速度工程(HIVE)技术的新型头盔，该头盔将材料科学的最新进展与创新的悬挂技术相结合，在轻便且具有成本效益的设计中提供了出色的能量吸收。蜂巢头盔的一个关键创新是其结构特性类似于扭转弹簧和阻尼器，因此 使蜂巢头盔能够减弱剧烈的头部旋转加速。STTRI阶段提供了关于HIVE技术可行性的确凿证据。与标准自行车头盔相比，蜂巢原型头盔的旋转头部加速降低了46%，预测的脑外伤风险降低了44%。这一STTR第二阶段研发战略的目的是通过结合计算建模和物理验证来正式优化HIVE技术的性能。经过优化的蜂巢技术将转化为商业上可行的头盔设计。最终得到的蜂窝头盔将在垂直和倾斜撞击下进行评估，以量化与标准头盔相比的性能改进。如果成功，最终的蜂巢头盔设计可以很容易地商业化，为骑自行车的人提供先进的头部保护，并降低与自行车相关的脑外伤的发生率和严重性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired neurological disorder that can cause long-lasting disability with limited treatment options. Therefore, preventative strategies must be emphasized in high-risk activities to reduce the individual and societal burden of this pervasive injury. Bicycle activities account for 20% of all sports-related TBI, with 42,000 annual injuries in the US. In an effort to alleviate the incidence and severity of these head injuries, helmet usage is now recommended, and in some states mandatory. However, contemporary bicycle helmets are not designed to mitigate rotational head acceleration, which is a clear physical mechanism of TBI. A novel helmet using High Impact Velocity Engineering (HIVE) technology is therefore proposed that combines recent advances in material science with an innovative suspension technique to provide superior energy absorption in a lightweight and cost-effective design. A key innovation of the HIVE helmet is that its structural properties behave similar to a torsional spring and damper, and thus enable the HIVE helmet to attenuate severe rotational head accelerations. The STTR Phase I delivered conclusive evidence on the feasibility of HIVE technology. HIVE prototype helmets yielded up to 46% reduction in rotational head acceleration and up to 44% reduction in predicted TBI risk compared to standard bicycle helmets. The aim of this STTR Phase II research and development strategy is to formally optimize the performance of HIVE technology by combining computational modeling and physical validation. The optimized HIVE technology will be translated into a commercially viable helmet design. The resulting HIVE helmets will be evaluated in vertical and oblique impacts to quantify performance improvements compared to standard helmets. If successful, the final HIVE helmet design can readily be commercialized to offer advanced head protection for bicyclists and to reduce the incidence and severity of bicycle-related TBI.