Blast-Induced Acceleration in a Shock Tube: Distinguishing Primary and Tertiary Blast Injury

The high incidence of mild TBI in Warfighters exposed to blast has triggered interest in injury mitigation and increased TBI resilience as well as concerns over safe return-to-duty and minimization of long-term and delayed TBI-related debilitations in returning veterans. These objectives require the utilization of high fidelity animal models to investigate the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of injury as a rational basis for defining risks and establishing effective countermeasures. The etiology of blast TBI (bTBI) is largely undefined, and several mechanisms, likely interactive, have been proposed. Using a well-validated blast model, we are exploring blast-induced acceleration of the head as one of the primary components of bTBI. Having successfully worked with a range of inanimate objects of varied areal densities to define relations of blast flow conditions to acceleration and displacement, we have begun examination of the effects of systematically varied conditions on anesthetized rats to isolate and distinguish the contributions of blast-induced head acceleration and displacement from other biomechanical components and effects of the shockwave.