Development of a computational fluid dynamic infant head model for the prediction of injury risk from impact loading scenarios.

Head injury in childhood is the single most common cause of death or permanent disability from injury. However, despite its frequency and significance, there is little understanding of how a child’s head responds during injurious loading. This is a significant limitation when making early diagnoses from a clinical history and informing clinical and/or forensic management or injury prevention strategies. With respect to impact vulnerability, current understanding is predominantly based on experiments on only three infant post-mortem-human-surrogate (PMHS) subjects. Researchers, out of experimental and technological necessity, can only typically derive acceleration data, currently considered a key correlate for head impact injury, by calculation; impact force, measured at an impacted surface or an impacted area of the head, is divided by the head mass, to produce a single-generalised head response acceleration value, a “global approximation”. This, however, provides no information about any specific-injury-risk, as a result of the localised/regional response of the head. Thus, current head injury prediction strategies are incapable of representing/describing the significant complexities of the human infant head injury risk.
A need exists, therefore, for a new experimental methodology, which can overcome the reliance on PMHSs and provide specific regional and/or localised response measurements. In response to these challenges the applicants have developed an ultra-high-resolution Finite-Element-Analysis computational model of the infant skull, validated against the PMHS tests. The cerebro-spinal-fluid ((CSF), the fluid around the brain) and brain, however, are currently represented simply as an elastic/viscoelastic solid providing limited information of potential flow characteristics. A research collaboration with Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, London provides access to micro CT images with an unparalleled level of detail. A need now arises to exploit this opportunity and produce high resolution CSF and brain Computational-Fluid-Dynamics models and produce a “step change” in the understanding of the biomechanics of infant brain injury.

The proposed programme will encompass the use of Mimics software for the development of 3D anatomically accurate models, working in collaboration with Finite element analysis modellers developing Ansys Fluent Computation Fluid Dynamics Software. Along with the CFD model for the CSF, appropriate material models for the brain, skull and scalp will be implemented for a comprehensive in silico analysis of the CFD and other components of the infant head. The student will work across the boundaries of forensic biomechanics, injury biomechanics, tissue biomechanics, computational fluid dynamic and fluid structure interaction modelling, neuroradiology and forensic neuropathology.
The student will benefit from collaboration with Mississippi State University, Department of Agricultural and Biological engineering and the Centre for Advanced Vehicular Systems which provides access to world leading ground breaking immature tissue characterisation at intermediate strain rates in compression, tension and shear.
Further collaboration with Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, London will provide unique access to world leading, fully ethically approved whole head Micro CT, CT and MRI scan data.
Collaboration with a Consultant Forensic Pathologist and Consultant Paediatric Forensic Pathologist at Leicester University Department of Forensic Pathology provides access to pathological and histological structural analysis.

Candidates should hold or expect to gain a first class degree or a good 2.1 and/or an appropriate Master’s level qualification (or their equivalent).

Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to demonstrate proficiency in the English language (IELTS 6.5 or equivalent)