Abstract
The internal deformation of the brain is far more complex than the rigid motion of the skull. An ultrasound imaging technique that we have developed has a combination of penetration, frame-rate, and motion-detection accuracy required to directly observe the formation and evolution of shear shock waves in the brain. Experiments at low impacts on the traumatic-brain-injury scale demonstrate that they are spontaneously generated and propagate within the porcine brain. Compared to the initially smooth impact, the acceleration at the shock front is amplified up to a factor of 8.5. This highly localized increase in acceleration suggests that shear shock waves are a previously unappreciated mechanism that could play a significant role in traumatic brain injury.
5 More- Received 13 December 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.8.044024
© 2017 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Synopsis
Brain Tissue Amplifies Waves
Published 31 October 2017
Ultrasound images reveal an amplification effect for shear waves traveling through the brain that may contribute to head injuries.
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