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Understanding Craniofacial Blunt Force Injury: A Biomechanical Perspective

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Forensic Pathology Reviews

Part of the book series: Forensic Pathology Reviews ((FPR,volume 5))

Abstract

One of the most important tasks in forensic investigation of blunt force trauma is to determine accurately the nature and magnitude of the forces applied to the skin. The primary emphasis of research into blunt force trauma has focused on analysing the demographics rather than the mechanobiology of such injuries. Nevertheless, a large body of literature has accumulated on the biomechanics of skin. Here we review this evidence, together with the complex role of intrinsic factors such as age, sex and ethnicity on the wounding susceptibility of skin. We also review how the skin responds to blunt trauma, and try to relate this to the estimation of the force of impact. Finally, we review the current biomechanical models of blunt force trauma, and introduce our own model and its preliminary findings. Contrary to the impression gained from the literature, wounding can be modelled in a basic simulation of the contact events during blunt force impact, and the results be evaluated quantitatively. We conclude that subject-specific parameters could be calculated from a more sophisticated model in order to provide a more robust set of values that can be used to predict forces used in generating skin wounds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Jules Kieser

  2. Dept. of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago, New Zealand

    Kelly Whittle BSC & Helen Nicholson BSC(HONS), MB CHB, MD

  3. Dept. of Oral Rehabilitation, University of Otago, New Zealand

    Brittany Wong BSC, PGDIP SCI & Michael Swain BSc, PHD

  4. Institute for Environmental Science and Research, Christchurch, New Zealand

    J Neil Waddell MDIPTECH, HDE, PGDIPCDTECH & Michael Taylor BSC(HONS), PHD

  5. Dept. of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago, New Zealand

    Ionut Ichim BDS, MDS

Authors
  1. Jules Kieser
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  2. Kelly Whittle BSC
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  3. Brittany Wong BSC, PGDIP SCI
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  4. J Neil Waddell MDIPTECH, HDE, PGDIPCDTECH
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  5. Ionut Ichim BDS, MDS
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  6. Michael Swain BSc, PHD
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  7. Michael Taylor BSC(HONS), PHD
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  8. Helen Nicholson BSC(HONS), MB CHB, MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jules Kieser .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Turmstr. 21 (Hausl), 10559 Berlin, Germany

    Michael Tsokos MD (Prof) (Prof)

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© 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Kieser, J. et al. (2009). Understanding Craniofacial Blunt Force Injury: A Biomechanical Perspective. In: Tsokos, M. (eds) Forensic Pathology Reviews. Forensic Pathology Reviews, vol 5. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-110-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-110-9_3

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-832-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-110-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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