"Neck Injury Criteria Formulation and Injury Risk Curves for the Ejecti" by Jeffrey C. Parr, Michael E. Miller et al. 10.3357/ASEM.3722.2013">
 

Neck Injury Criteria Formulation and Injury Risk Curves for the Ejection Environment: A Pilot Study

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2013

Abstract

Background: Helmet mounted displays provide increased pilot capability, but can also increase the risk of injury during ejection. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's (NHTSA’s) neck injury criteria (Nij) metric is evaluated for understanding the impact of helmet mass on the risk of injury and modified risk curves are developed which are compatible with the needs of the aviation community. Methods: Existent human subject data collected under various accelerative and head loading conditions were applied to understand the sensitivity of the Nij construct to changes in acceleration and helmet mass, as well as its stability with respect to gender, body mass, neck circumference, and sitting height. A portion of this data was combined with data from an earlier postmortem human subject study to create pilot study modified risk curves. These curves were compared and contrasted with the NHTSA risk curves. Results: A statistically significant difference in the peak mean Nij was observed when seat acceleration increased by 2 G, but not when helmet mass was varied from 1.6 kg to 2 kg at a constant seat acceleration of 8 G. Although NHTSA risk curves predict a 13% risk of AIS 2+ injury for the 8-G, 2-kg helmet condition mean Nij of 0.138, no AIS 2+ injuries were observed. Modified risk curves were produced which predict a 0.91% risk of AIS 2+ injury under these conditions. Discussion: The Nij was shown to be sensitive to changes in acceleration and generally robust to anthropometric differences between individuals. Modified risk curves are proposed which improve risk prediction at lower Nij values.

Comments

© Aerospace Medical Association.

This article is published by the Aerospace Medical Association and is available for download from the publisher's portal. The "Link to Full Text" opens or saves the published version (PDF format).

Source Publication

Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine (ISSN 0095-6562)

Share

COinS