The mira side impact dummy has been developed to measure forces in the thorax and pelvis which relate to the injury potential in car accidents. The forces measured on the six individual ribs are able to discriminate between the effects of distributed and localised loading, and to locate accurately the impact point on the thorax. this is particularly important because serious injuries can be caused by localised loading from door furniture such as arm rests, which can be very much more severe than the same load distributed over a large area. Similarly in the pelvis many injuries are caused by direct loading, particularly when the car occupant is trapped by the seat or the central tunnel. The integral transducers in the mira pelvis can measure the forces at the three principal injury sites. (a)
Abstract