Professor Robin Cleveland studies how blast waves result in traumatic brain injury (TBI)

17 May 2012

Robin Cleveland (Professor of Engineering Science) is a co-author on a research article that has been published as the cover story in Science Translational Medicine.

The article reports on traumatic brain injury to soldiers subject to blast waves. Previously, it has been though that the blast waves direct interact with the tissue but this study suggests that it is the oscillation of the head that results in the damage—similar to what has been observed in American football players. The consequence is that to protect the head from injury the use of a helmet may not be the optimal strategy, rather a restraining device that reduces motion of the head and neck may be more effective.

A lay language description of the research can be found here.

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