Seminar: The Multiscale Mechanics of Traumatic Brain Injury

Dr. K.T. Ramesh, Johns Hopkins University

All dates for this event occur in the past.

E001 Scott Lab
E001 Scott Lab
201 W. 19th Ave
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Abstract:

The human brain is an extraordinary organ that is arguably the most important part of the body. It is also a complex soft structure that is subjected to dynamic loading throughout a human lifetime. This lecture describes how this structure is protected, and examines the conditions under which the protection fails, leading to traumatic brain injury (TBI). Our particular interest is in injuries arising within sports.

We present here a computational approach that integrates information on the events that cause TBI with high-fidelity models of the anatomy and physiology of the living human brain to study the onset and specific forms of traumatic brain injury. Using event reconstruction approaches coupled with multiscale mechanics analyses, we demonstrate that such mild traumatic brain injury may be dominated by rotational modes. The model captures the essential features of diffuse axonal injury, which is characterized by damage to neural axons. The model is informed by cellular and subcellular experiments in situ on single axons and astroglia, and incorporates structural information obtained using MRI and DTI.

Our approach (viewed as an “upstream” approach by the clinical community) provides guidance on the likely domains of injury, the likely cognitive deficits, and on the potential approaches to treatment. The model is validated against 3D live human brain data, and we discuss some of the associated challenges.

About the Speaker:

K.T. Ramesh is the Alonzo G. Decker Jr. Professor of Science & Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. His research interests are in the physics of dynamic failure, impact biomechanics, and planetary scale impact problems. Prof. Ramesh received his doctorate from Brown University in 1987. After a short stint as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego, he joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins in 1988, becoming Department Chair from 1999-2002, Director of the Center for Advanced Metallic and Ceramic Systems in 2001 and founding Director of the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI) in 2012.

Hosted by Professor Soheil Soghrati.