Perhaps you or a loved one in New York sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a car accident. As far back as 2013, the CDC reported that car accidents are the leading cause of TBI-related ER visits, hospitalizations and deaths among people aged 15 to 34. In 2019, a paper published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering explored how one might predict if a crash will cause a TBI.
The importance of this paper
Previous TBI research has been experimental or computational, either consisting of tests being conducted on animals, for example, or the use of mathematical tools to find out how the brain would react to trauma. The research described in this recent paper fuses the two approaches to research, first by gathering motion data from crash test dummies and second, by applying this to a computer model of the brain.
While much of the research has focused on sports- and military-related TBIs, this study focuses, instead, on car accidents. Though it’s in its early stages, the project may soon give first responders a way to know the probability of a TBI being present after inputting data about the crash, most likely into a handheld application.
What else the research may incorporate
To determine if a crash will result in a TBI, researchers are using a machine-learning method developed by the Computational Design Optimization of Engineering Systems Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Later, they hope to incorporate other factors, like the crash victim’s age and the vehicle’s weight, for greater accuracy. They may take actual car crash data from the Arizona DoT into account as well.
A lawyer to assist with your claim
TBIs account for around 30% of all injury-related deaths in the U.S. Perhaps you were fortunate enough to be left with a personal injury, but the losses you incurred were so severe that your insurance company can’t cover them all. In this situation, it may be best to see a lawyer who understands this field and may negotiate on your behalf for the maximum possible settlement.