Modeling of inflicted head injury by shaking trauma in children

Modeling of inflicted head injury by shaking trauma in children: what can we learn?: Update to parts I&II: A systematic review of animal, mathematical and physical models

Hutchinson, K. (TU Delft Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology)
van Zandwijk, Jan Peter (Netherlands Forensic Institute - NFI)
Vester, Marloes E.M. (Care Needs Assessment Centre CIZ)
Seth, A. (TU Delft Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control)
Bilo, Rob A.C. (Veilig Thuis Rotterdam Rijnmond)
van Rijn, Rick R. (Netherlands Forensic Institute - NFI; Amsterdam UMC)
Loeve, A.J. (TU Delft Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology)

2024

Inflicted shaking trauma can cause injury in infants, but exact injury mechanisms remain unclear. Controversy exists, particularly in courts, whether additional causes such as impact are required to produce injuries found in cases of (suspected) shaking. Publication rates of studies on animal and biomechanical models of inflicted head injury by shaking trauma (IHI-ST) in infants continue rising. Dissention on the topic, combined with its legal relevance, makes maintaining an up-to-date, clear and accessible overview of the current knowledge-base on IHI-ST essential. The current work reviews recent (2017–2023) studies using models of IHI-ST, serving as an update to two previously published reviews. A systematic review was conducted in Scopus and PubMed for articles using animal, physical and mathematical models for IHI-ST. Using the PRISMA methodology, two researchers independently screened the publications. Two, five, and ten publications were included on animal, physical, and mathematical models of IHI-ST, respectively. Both animal model studies used rodents. It is unknown to what degree these can accurately represent IHI-ST. Physical models were used mostly to investigate gross head-kinematics during shaking. Most mathematical models were used to study local effects on the eye and the head’s internal structures. All injury thresholds and material properties used were based on scaled adult or animal data. Shaking motions used as inputs for animal, physical and mathematical models were mostly greatly simplified. Future research should focus on using more accurate shaking inputs for models, and on developing or and validating accurate injury thresholds applicable for shaking.

Animal models
Biomechanical models
Child abuse
Closed head injuries
Forensic pathology

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:548f421a-572e-4a0e-8f52-624e87b40d52

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-023-00765-5

2024-07-18

1547-769X

Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Institutional Repository

review

© 2024 K. Hutchinson, Jan Peter van Zandwijk, Marloes E.M. Vester, A. Seth, Rob A.C. Bilo, Rick R. van Rijn, A.J. Loeve