Statistical Skull Geometry Model for Children 0-3 Years Old

• NCJ Number: 249433
• Author(s): Zhigang Li, Byoung-Keon Park, Weiguo Liu, Jinhuan Zhang, Matthew P. Reed, Jonathan D. Rupp
• Date Published: May 2015
• Length: 0 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Development and Validation of a New Pediatric Head Injury Assessment Tool for Possible Child Abuse Cases Considering Subject-Specific Child Head Anatomy

Annotation

This study used head CT scans from fifty-six 0–3 year-old children to develop a statistical model of pediatric skull geometry.

Abstract

Head injury is the leading cause of fatality and long-term disability for children. Pediatric heads change rapidly in both size and shape during growth, especially for children under 3 years old. To accurately assess the head injury risks for children, it is necessary to understand the geometry of the pediatric head and how morphologic features influence injury causation within the 0–3 year-old population. Geometric features important for injury prediction - including skull size and shape, skull thickness and suture width, along with their variations among the sample population - were quantified through a series of image and statistical analyses. The study determined that the size and shape of the pediatric skull change significantly with age and head circumference. The skull thickness and suture width vary with age, head circumference, and location, which will have important effects on skull stiffness and injury prediction. The statistical geometry model developed in this study can provide a geometrical basis for future development of child anthropomorphic test devices and pediatric head finite element models. (Publisher abstract modified)