The effectiveness of cervical airbags in the control of head and neck kinematics

Abstract

Cyclists represent a significant percentage of seriously or fatally injured road users. Head and brain injuries in cyclists have been extensively studied, but less focus has been given to cervical injuries. Airbags are being designed to mitigate or prevent injuries in cyclists. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of three airbag prototypes designed primarily to prevent hyperextension cervical injuries in cyclists. A test series was conducted with a Hybrid III 50th percentile. The performance of the airbags was assessed by comparing head kinematics and selected injury criteria. The most noticeable differences were obtained for hyperextension angles. The average angle without airbag was 50.06 ±1.73 degrees, compared to 41.99 ±1.29, 37.20 ±2.05, and 46.53 ±2.21 degrees, respectively, for the tests with the three different airbags. No substantial differences in peak linear acceleration and head angular velocity were obtained in the tests; however, a relation between volume capacity and airbag pressure was observed. There were no relevant reductions in the brain injury criterion. The lowest values were obtained using Airbag 1, with an improvement of 2.4 in the average brain injury criterion. Further research is required to evaluate the effectiveness of airbags in the occurrence of cervical trauma.