The Hybrid III Anthropometric Neck in the Evaluation of Head First Collisions

Cervical spine trauma from head first collisions was studied using a Hybrid III head and neck (AHN) fitted with a force transducer. An analytical model (Bioneck II) which accounted for the anatomy and geometry of the human cervical spine enabled compressive loads at any vertebral level to be determined. Model inputs included shear and compressive forces and moments from the transducer and kinematics of the cervical elements of the AHN. For trials against a fixed barrier compression was reduced by 25% in the upper cervical spine and was increased by 30% in the lower cervical spine when compared to transducer values. The use of the AHN can be enhanced with the Bioneck II model, and when used together they offer promise for further investigation of cervical spine trauma.