Development of an Articulating Mandible Headform Having Force Sensing Temporomandibular Joints

Current state of the art in Anthropometric Test Device (ATD) headform development does not include biofidelity of the mandible and the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). In order to investigate the protective aspects of mouth guards in relation to mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) potential, a headform with an articulating mandible has been developed. The headform is based upon the 50% male Hybrid III and has a steel mandible with steel upper and lower dentition and a compliant TMJ structure. The headform may be instrumented with tri-axial C.G. accelerometers, and includes tri-axial force sensors at both left and right TMJ's as well as the upper dentition. Mandible force and displacement response under direct chin impact has been validated against cadaver corridors developed recently at Wayne State University. The headform was developed under sponsorship of the National Football League primarily to assess the capability of mouth guards to reduce concussion risk in helmeted American football impacts. However this headform may also have application to other fields, such as military and automotive towards mandible, TMJ and dentition injury prevention research.