An assessment of criteria for the prediction of contusion injury under non- penetrating thoracic impact.

A study has been carried out to assess the effect on injury level of the parameters which characterise a non- penetrating thoracic impact. This study has used the dynamic finite element code DYNA2D and the dynamic simulation code GENDYN. Injury level has been calculated using a range of criteria. The study has shown that acceleration of the outside of the chest wall is a very poor indicator of the expected injury level, bearing little or no relationship to the actual pressure conditions in the lung.