Soft and rigid tissue effects on shock propagation.

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It is not well understood how soft (muscle, fat) and rigid (bone) tissues interact to attenuate potentially injurious impact forces (shock) as they propagate through body segments to more proximal anatomical structures, following activities such as heel landings during running and arresting the body with outstretched upper extremities after falling. Activities such as these are commonly experienced by Canadians and the negative consequences of the associated impacts can be profound. Our understanding of how tissues interact to mitigate the detrimental effects of impact shock will improve as a result of this research by: 1. establishing an inventory of soft and rigid tissue masses by developing and validating prediction equations for the extremity, trunk, and head and neck segments of a wide range of people (e.g. young vs. older people). This will dramatically enhance our ability to biomechanically model the response of all segment tissues following impact; 2. further evaluating innovative methods for delivering and controlled impacts to living participants and human specimens that more closely mimic typical landing and fall arrest impact conditions, and; 3. utilizing various imaging and modeling approaches to quantify the response of soft and rigid tissues and document shock propagation pathways through these tissues after impact. From this work, it is anticipated that the biomechanics community will learn considerably about how tissues respond and interact during common activities involving impact. We will also be able to better evaluate and model the human response due to the improved realism of impact delivery and capacity to document how shock experienced during these activities propagates through segment tissues. Taken together, the outcomes of this research will significantly foster the progression of impact biomechanics research in this area and ultimately provide direction for assessing and improving injury prevention strategies and reducing healthcare costs associated with impact-induced injuries, that will benefit all Canadians.