Anthropometric Modelling of the Pregnant Occupant

A parametric anthropometric model of a pregnant woman has been produced for use in crash protection research. The model is based on anthropometric measurements of pregnant women, with the initial model representing a 5^th percentile woman in her 30^th week of gestation. The model has been developed to be easily scaleable so women of different sizes can be modeled and adapted to simulate any stage of pregnancy. Previous research has simply added an enlarged abdomen to existing females models. However the model presented describes a comprehensive depiction of the altered pregnant form by incoporating the anthropometry of the entire body. This paper presents the pregnant occupant model for use in evaluation of safety systems and vehicle interiors. This work is the first step toward a computational pregnant occupant for crash protection research, capable of simulating dynamic impact response and predicting injury risk in automobile crashes.