Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Williams, Lakiesha N.

Committee Member

Liao, Jun

Committee Member

Jones, Michael D.

Committee Member

Beasley, Michaela J.

Committee Member

Prabhu, Rajkumar

Date of Degree

5-4-2018

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Biomedical Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

James Worth Bagley College of Engineering

Department

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in infants is detrimental to their development and can result in death; despite these risks, limited research has been conducted for this population. This studies purpose was to quantify biomechanical properties and microstructural changes after compressive and tensile loading of infant human brain surrogate, fetal porcine brain. Samples were loaded independently at strain rates of 0.00625s-1, 0.025s-1, and 0.10s-1 at strain levels of 0%, 15%, 30%, and 45% using the Mach-1TM Micromechanical Testing Device. After loading to the specified strain level, samples were chemically fixed using 10% formalin. Samples were then stained using H&E to evaluate the microstructure. Results showed strain rate dependency and non-linearity with higher stress levels in compression than in tension. The histological analysis confirmed microstructural changes with statistically relevant deformations after loading. These results can assist in understanding infant TBI and help develop accurate head computational models and optimal protective headgear.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/21166

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