ROTATION - TRANSLATION DUALITY IN HEAD TRAUMA? PERCEPTIVE AND OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE

Brain - skull displacement in case of head trauma has frequently been quoted in the literature. The common lesions linked with this relative movement mechanism are focal contusions and subdural hematomas. Specialists also agree that an angular acceleration of the head can cause intra-cerebral shearing and constitutes a lesion mechanism of the diffuse axonal injuries. The specific type of shock which releases one or the other of these mechanisms has not been studied in depth and has often been attributed to the angular or linear preponderance of the acceleration. Earlier work describes the dynamic behaviour of the head. In vivo mechanical impedance recordings of the head revealed a de-coupling of the cerebral mass at about 100 Herz. This study consolidates this result by low amplitude frequency by frequency vibration analysis of four voluntary subjects. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 881069.