Comparative study of potential whiplash injuries for different occupant seated positionsm during rear end accidents.

Purpose: Whiplash injuries to the cervical spine represent a considerable economic burden on society with medical conditions, in some cases persisting for more than a year. Numerous studies of whiplash injuries have been made for occupant normal seated position, leaving the analysis of neck injuries for out-of-normal positions not well documented. For that purpose, a detailed human cervical spine finite element model was developed. Methods:The analysis was made for four most common occupant seated positions, such as: Normal Position with the torso against the seat back and the head looking straight ahead, Torso Lean forward position with the torso away from the seat back for approximately 10°, Head Flexed position with the head flexed forward approximately 20° from the normal position and HeadFlexed with Torso Lean forward position with the head flexed forward approximately 20° and torso 10° from the normal position. Results: The comparative study included the analysis of capsular ligament deformation and the level of S-curvature of the cervical spine. The developed model predicted that Head Flexed seated position and Head-Flexed with Torso Lean forward seated position are most threatening for upper and lower cervical spine capsular ligament respectively. As for the level of S-curvature, the model predicted that Head-Flexed with Torso Lean forward seated position would be most prone to neck injuries associated with it. Conclusions:This study demonstrated that the occupant seated position has a significant influence on potential whiplash injuries.