The injury of the dorsal root ganglions (DRG) of the nerves in the human neck has been commonly reported owing to the rear-end collisions of motor vehicles. Research of the DRG-damaged process will be beneficial for designing motor vehicles with high safety. According to our study, one of the potential causes of this damage is the pressure pulse of venous blood that arises from the whiplash motion of the human neck. We have proposed a simplified model for predicting the pressure pulse in regard of the whiplash motion. The results are consistent with the experimental data. We also investigate the damage by simulating the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) between the venous blood and DRG. Our modelling method and simulations show a new angle for understanding the whiplash and are helpful for reasonably controlling whiplash motions.

Publications

• H.-D. Yao, M. Y. Svensson, and H. Nilsson. Deformation of dorsal root ganglion due to pressure transients of venous blood and cerebrospinal fluid in the cervical vertebral canal. Journal of Biomechanics, 2018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2018.05.012.
• H.-D. Yao, M. Y. Svensson, and H. Nilsson. Transient pressure changes in the vertebral canal during whiplash motion – a hydrodynamic modeling approach. Journal of Biomechanics, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2016.01.005, 2016.