Monday  |  Lakeshore B  |  12:20 PM–12:40 PM

#19747, Fascicular Tracking, Intracranial Cavitation, and Kinematics of Blast-induced TBI in Ovine Models

This study seeks to address the existing knowledge gap regarding the connection between head trauma and clinically significant injuries, specifically focusing on axonal and connective tissue pathology. The approach involves employing ultra-high-speed imaging and digital image analysis to quantify the deformation of living brain tissue in the initial milliseconds of exposure to blast and blunt forces.
In adherence to ethical standards for animal experimentation, a total of 15 living sheep and 5 Taxon phantoms will be subjected to shock waves with varying characteristics (overpressure duration, overpressure magnitude, and complexity) within the Advanced Blast Chamber (ABC) at MSU's Laboratory for the Physics of Living Tissue Under Severe Interactions (PLUTSI). Each sheep will undergo a surgical procedure to implant a clear cranial window in the region of interest (ROI), allowing for the visualization of gyri, sulci, and cerebral vasculature during dynamic loading.
Utilizing ultra-high-speed imaging, coupled with motion-tracking techniques such as DIC, the deformation of the observed brain and vasculature will be precisely determined. Upon completion of the gyral motion analysis within the ROI, a calculated loading time history for each tissue point during exposure will be derived. The window also incorporates a pressure transducer to measure intracranial pressure (ICP) and a tri-axial accelerometer to characterize the kinematics to blast loading. The ICP measurement will be used to look for signatures of inertial cavitation and skull flexure.
Post-exposure, both the exposed and control sheep will be kept alive and monitored for up to 24 hours to maximize the detection of axonal injury. This timeframe is crucial, mirroring the approach in human motor vehicle victims undergoing autopsy, ensuring minimal interference from downstream injury processes. The brains of the subjects will then be perfused and preserved for further examination using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropathologic analysis, providing a comprehensive quantification of the incurred damage.
For 2025 SEM Annual, we will present the results of the first two experiments of this ongoing study.

Bianca Davila-Montero   Michigan State University
Jane Manfredi   Michigan State University
Walter Schneider   University of Pittsburgh
Adam Willis   U.S. Air Force - 59th MDW
Tony Yuan   Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Ricardo Mejia-Alvarez   Michigan State University