Engineering Approaches to Preventing or Mitigating Whiplash Injuries

鞭击伤是最常见的车祸伤害，在一些司法管辖区，鞭击伤的保险索赔超过了所有其他与车祸有关的伤害的总和。此外，女性在车祸中遭受鞭打损伤的可能性是男性的2到3倍，但汽车座椅(包括目前的防鞭打座椅)是使用男性碰撞测试假人来设计和评估的。因此，这项研究建议的目的是更好地了解i)在追尾事故中女性和男性如何与汽车座椅互动，以及ii)能够适应乘员和碰撞严重程度的座椅是否能够更好地控制乘员在追尾事故中的反应。 为了实现这些目标，我们将使用一种计算机控制的座椅，它可以在撞车时改变其几何形状和刚度，以找到在追尾事故中最大限度地减少乘员头部和颈部运动的最佳方法。我们将首先使用女性和男性碰撞测试假人来优化座椅，这些假人是为研究扭伤而设计的。然后，我们将使用女性和男性志愿者验证优化后的座椅，如果需要，进一步调整座椅，以考虑到乘员身高和肌肉反应等因素的性别差异。由于更严重的鞭打损伤发生在乘员在撞击时转过头的时候，我们还将评估座椅应该如何适应这种更脆弱的姿势。另一种改变乘客与座椅互动的潜在方法是在撞车前激发乘客的反射肌肉反应。先前的研究表明，在追尾碰撞之前立即惊吓乘员会减少他们的反射性支撑，并减少与扭伤相关的运动。因此，我们还将研究将撞车前的惊吓与可适应的座椅相结合是否可以进一步减少与扭伤相关的乘员运动和肌肉反应。 这项研究的结果对三组人很重要：i)研究人类与安全系统相互作用的科学家；ii)设计和制造汽车座椅的工程师；iii)所有以乘客身份驾驶或乘坐可能发生追尾事故的汽车的加拿大人。这项研究的预期结果是对乘员和主动座椅如何相互作用以保护车辆乘员的详细机械理解。未来，这些基本的科学和工程知识可以转化为智能汽车座椅(和其他安全系统)的开发，这些系统在撞车时与乘员智能互动，以防止或减少伤害。发展这些知识还将培养研究生，他们将成为该领域的领导者，并可能在加拿大汽车业创造新的就业机会。在加拿大发展这些知识最终帮助加拿大科学家、工程师和制造商成为预防伤害和使交通系统更安全的世界领先者。

Whiplash injury is the most common car-crash injury, and insurance claims for whiplash injury exceed all other crash-related injuries combined in some jurisdictions. Moreover, females are 2 to 3 times more likely than males to suffer whiplash injury from a car crash, and yet car seats (including current anti-whiplash seats) are designed and evaluated using male crash test dummies. Thus the objectives of this research proposal are to better understand i) how females and males interact with car seats during rear-end crashes, and ii) whether a seat that can adapt to its occupant and the severity of a crash can better control how an occupant responds during a rear-end crash. To achieve these goals, we will use a computer-controlled seat that can change its geometry and stiffness during a crash to find optimum ways of minimizing an occupant's head and neck motion during a rear-end crash. We will first optimize the seat using female and male crash test dummies designed for studying whiplash injury. We will then validate this optimized seat using female and male volunteers and, if needed, further adapt the seat to account for sex differences in factors such as occupant height and muscle responses. Since more severe whiplash injuries occur when an occupant has their head turned at the time of impact, we will also evaluate how the seat should adapt its response for this more vulnerable posture. Another potential method of altering how occupants interact with their seats is to engage an occupant's reflex muscle responses before a crash. Prior research indicates that startling an occupant immediately before a rear-end impact reduces their reflexive bracing and reduces the motions related to whiplash injury. Thus we will also examine whether combining a pre-crash startle with an adaptable seat can further reduce the occupant motions and muscle response related to whiplash injury. The results of this research are important to three groups: i) scientists studying the interaction of humans and safety systems, ii) engineers who design and manufacture car seats, iii) all Canadians who drive or ride as passengers in cars that can experience a rear-end impact. The anticipated outcome of this research is a detailed mechanical understanding of how occupants and active seats can interact to protect vehicle occupants. In the future, this basic science and engineering knowledge can be translated to the development of smart car seats (and other safety systems) that intelligently interact with their occupants during a crash to prevent or reduce injuries. Developing this knowledge will also train graduate students who will be leaders in the field and potentially create new jobs in the Canadian auto industry. Developing this knowledge in Canada ultimately helps Canadian scientist, engineers and manufacturers become world leaders in preventing injuries and making transportation systems safer.