A Thoraco-Abdominal Model for Visceral Response to Experimentally Measured Deformations

Dynamic external deformation of the human torso region has been shown to induce traumatic injury to underlying anatomical structures. Previous experiments utilizing post-mortem human specimens (PMHS) have correlated biomechanical response, e.g., compression and V*C, to risk of injury as observed during post-test autopsy [1]. Biomechanical measurements are often obtained from the chestband device, a flexible steel belt instrumented circumferentially with strain gages. From bending strain signals, chestband contours are derived which represent external torso deformation patterns in the transverse plane [2]. Although injury outcomes are correlated to biomechanical metrics as measured by the chestband [1], it is desirable to establish a relationship between deformation behaviors and tissue-level response throughout the impact event. Consequently, a computational model was developed and validated for examinations of viscoelastic tissue response to external deformation as measured by the chestband.