Comparison of Head Acceleration Injury Indices in Cadaver Skull Fracture

Skull fracture was produced in forty cadavers which were dropped with their heads striking rigid, flat, hemispherical, and cylindrically shaped surfaces on the front, side, and rear. The heads were instrumented with biaxial accelerometers and force of impact was measured. Severity Index and Effective Displacement Index are compared at fracture level for all frontal impacts and the frontal flat plate results are compared to the Wayne State Cerebral Concussion Tolerance Curve. Indices calculated for Alderson 50th percentile dummy frontal head impacts onto a rigid flat plate are found to be higher than those for cadaver skull fracture impacts in the same drop height range.