Fighting the Brain Injury Crisis: A Protective & Affordable Helmet

Overview

South Dakota Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), a leading cause of death/disability, afflict >55 million people worldwide; >90% of TBI -related deaths occur by road traffic accidents, the primary cause being lack of high-quality, affordable helmets. This study hypothesizes that shear-thickening fluid (STF) is more effective in impact protection for helmets than currently used materials. Cheaper and readily-available materials (i.e., cornstarch/water) were used to create an STF called Oobleck, which was vacuum -/heat-sealed in a vacuum -sealable bag and Mylar bag. Experiments were conducted using bike and football helmets on a standardized NOCSAE headform, using vinyl nitrile (VN) foam as control; Severity Index (SI) and G -force (g) were measured after dropping helmet/headform on anvil from 3 feet (average height of fall from bike). Force transmission (lbf) was also used to compare the STF and VN (weight dropped on layer/foam from increasing heights). SI/g values for bike helmet were statistically significant for crown, rear, a nd side drops (p<0.01). SI/g values for football helmet were significant for crown/rear and crown/side drops, respectively (p<0.05). Lbf values were significant for drops >12 inches (p<0.01). Overall, the STF layer outperformed the VN foam in SI, g, and lb f, indicating that the STF offers better impact protection in helmets compared to the widely used VN. Next steps involve testing STF’s effectiveness in rotational force absorption and defining the layer’s optimal thickness/configuration. Successful complet ion of this project will facilitate development of a protective, affordable headgear technology. Modeling in Danio Rerio How Hyperactivity is Affected by Different Wavelengths of Light Through a Range of Ages Natalie Kiehl Holt High School, Wentzville, MO The increased use of technology has led to an increase in blue light exposure to children across the country. Studies have shown blue light to have negative effects on human circadian rhythms. The goal of this project is to determine the effect of blue lig ht on individuals as a function of age. Zebrafish have been chosen as the model organism in this experiment. Behavior after exposure to various light wavelengths was studied on zebrafish ranging from late larval through late juvenile stage. Fish motion was tracked and analyzed using video analysis software after 10 minutes of exposure to either white or blue light. Time spent swimming at speeds less than 25% of the average speed, number of direction changes, percent of time spent in the center, and total distance swam were assessed. Movement data for fish aged 30, 42, and 51 DPF has been collected and initial results indicated that the blue light results fluctuated more between individual fish compared to the white light fish. The other conclusion that can be drawn from both observation as well as data analysis is that as the fish age, they tend to swim a further total distance at a faster speed with less time spent not moving. Said results neither confirmed nor denied the hypothesis for this experiment, howe ver, the data shows several behavioral factors that can be further analyzed and may lead to more significant implications.