Assessment of Injury Criteria for Predicting Pediatric Abdominal Injury Risk From Seatbelt Loading

The injury response of 33 young porcine (sus scrofa domestica) subjects exposed to abdominal belt loading is assessed relative to established injury criteria. Four loading parameters were controlled independently (compression magnitude, compression rate, active muscle tensing, and belt location). A custom-built loading frame was used to generate forced displacements using a two-point, transversely oriented seatbelt over the anterior abdomen. The injuries produced under the test conditions are similar to seatbelt-induced abdominal injuries that are observed in pediatric occupants in real-world automobile crashes. Specifically, the belt location is highly correlated to the type of injury seen, with upper abdominal tests resulting in more frequent liver, and spleen injuries, while lower abdominal tests more frequently generate injury to the large and small intestines. Preliminary examination of the data indicates that maximum abdominal compression is a good predictor of abdominal injury over a range of rates from 2.87 m/s to 7.75 m/s. Compression velocity alone is not a good predictor, and the inclusion of velocity in V*C_max decreases injury discrimination compared to an injury probability model using maximum abdominal compression alone.