title: Group-wise evaluation and comparison of white matter fiber strain and maximum principal strain in sports-related concussion.
abstract: Sports-related concussion is a major public health problem in the United States and yet its biomechanical mechanisms remain unclear. In vitro studies demonstrate axonal elongation as a potential injury mechanism; however, current response-based injury predictors (e.g., maximum principal strain, ε(ep)) typically do not incorporate axonal orientations. We investigated the significance of white matter (WM) fiber orientation in strain estimation and compared fiber strain (ε(n)) with ε(ep) for 11 athletes with a clinical diagnosis of concussion. Geometrically accurate subject-specific head models with high mesh quality were created based on the Dartmouth Head Injury Model (DHIM), which was successfully validated (performance categorized as "good" to "excellent"). For WM regions estimated to be exposed to high strains using a range of injury thresholds (0.09-0.28), substantial differences existed between ε(n) and ε(ep) in both distribution (Dice coefficient of 0.13-0.33) and extent (∼ 5-10-fold differences), especially at higher threshold levels and higher rotational acceleration magnitudes. For example, an average of 3.2% vs. 29.8% of WM was predicted above an optimal threshold of 0.18 established from an in vivo animal study using ε(n) and ε(ep), respectively, with an average Dice coefficient of 0.14. The distribution of WM regions with high ε(n) was consistent with typical heterogeneous patterns of WM disruptions in diffuse axonal injury, and the group-wise extent at the optimal threshold matched well with the percentage of WM voxels experiencing significant longitudinal changes of fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity (3.2% and 3.44%, respectively) found from a separate independent study. These results suggest the significance of incorporating WM microstructural anisotropy in future brain injury studies.
authors.affiliation: 1 Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College , Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Songbai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Jonathan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Beckwith
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Bolander
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Greenwald
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Flashman
authors.forename: Keith D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Paulsen
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: McAllister
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D020833:Diffuse Axonal Injury / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: axonal injury; diffusion tensor imaging; finite element method; models of injury; traumatic brain injury
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