Scarlett Law Group
Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers
Biomechanics of Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury or a closed head injury can occur when the head is subjected to a direct external impact. Likewise, injury can occur when the head is subjected to a sudden acceleration and then is suddenly stopped. A sudden acceleration/deceleration often follows a violent flexion – extension movement of the head. This response is extremely common in rear-end vehicle collisions.
Condensed to its most simplistic, there are three major mechanisms which contribute to traumatic brain injury.
These include: (a) impact of the brain against the skull; (b) shear between layers of the brain; and (c) cavitation.
(a) Brain v.Skull. Depending upon how the impact occurred, be it a rear-end collision or other source, the head starts its movement to the rear while the brain resists, thereby leaving a space at the back of the skull. As this force progresses, a centrifugal force lifts the brain thereby leaving spaces between it. Both inertia and centrifugal force causes the brain to impact against the skull. This impact may cause damage to the brain.
"Condensed to its most simplistic, there are three major mechanisms which contribute to traumatic brain injury. These include: (a) impact of the brain against the skull; (b) shear between layers of the brain; and (c)cavitation." |
While the skull provides considerable external
protection because of its strength, its inner-contours are not smooth and are characterized by sharp, bony proturbences. When a blow is dealt to the head, the brain is flung against these bony proturbences and is bruised and torn, resulting in brain damage.
(b) Shear – Diffuse Axonal Shearing. Another mechanism of brain injury is that of shear. Shear is based on rotational acceleration/deceleration, and a sliding effect of one layer of the brain upon another. Shear occurs within the brain because of the difference of density in layers.
Axonal shearing can occur where an axon transverses between two or more layers of the brain which are subject to shearing forces. Often times, damage to the axons is diffuse and degeneration happens throughout the brain rather than in specific clusters. Diffuse axonal shearing is a common cause of "miild" traumatic brain injury, and is rarely visible upon imaging.
(c) Cavitation.
Cavitation occurs when mass moves rapidly through fluid. The pressure in front of the mass is high and the pressure behind the mass is low. Vapor filled bubbles form in low pressure. When a mass returns in the
opposite direction, the bubbles collapse. If this occurs often, the brain
can be injured.
Many times, injuries are found opposite the point of impact. This type of injury is called the "countre-coup", a French term meaning "against the blow". Cavitation is the most commonly accepted explanation for this type of injury.
Work-up of the biomechanics of injury are especially required in the proper trial presentation of any traumatic brain injury case. The Scarlett Law Group works with the top experts in the world on this subject. Below, you will see the lengths to which the Scarlett Law Group routinely works with biomechanical experts in order to demonstrate the mechanics of injury.
In the first instance, the Scarlett Law Group represented Claude Herndon as a result of traumatic brain injury which occurred when the stool upon which Mr. Herndon was sitting fell into a concealed hole in the casino floor, causing Mr. Herndon to be propelled forward where he hit his head upon the casino's slot bank table. First, accurate photographs were taken of the actual location of the fall. Friction measurements were taken of the table top, together with appropriate documentation of the concealed hole and stool.
Lastly, based on the casino surveillance videotape obtained by the Scarlett Law Group during discovery, actual re-enactment of Mr. Herndon's fall was duplicated in order to analyze the impact forces. The result indicated that the forces involved were clearly sufficient to cause traumatic brain injury.
The Scarlett Law Group likewise represented Mr. Jamil Keegan after he sustained a traumatic brain injury from a construction site accident. Mr. Keegan's shirt was caught by pipe then being threaded in a pipe threading machine. The operator was oblivious to the problem experienced by Mr. Keegan as his shirt became entangled with the pipe, wrapping tighter and tighter, before Mr. Keegan was thrown over, striking his head on the concrete workplace floor. The Scarlett Law Group obtained an identical pipe threading machine, and in essence, reenacted the accident.
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