Biomechanics and Injury Analysis
Biomechanical and injury analysis can be used to determine what forces, torques, and kinematics were experienced by a particular occupant and whether these could have contributed to causing a specific injury. Dr. Fijan does not diagnose medical injuries; rather, he analyses the forces, torques, and kinematics that were generated during the accident and compares these with forces and motions acting on the same body parts during everyday activities and those (demonstrated in the peer-reviewed biomechanics literature) required to produce the claimed damage / injury.
Dr. Fijan analyzes medical records, information from an accident reconstruction, data from vehicle-to-vehicle crash tests (including dynamic data from anthropomorphic test dummies), and computer modeling to evaluate kinematics, contacts, and potential damage / injury during an accident.
Dr. Fijan has considerable expertise in evaluating motor vehicle accidents, occupant kinematics, injury biomechanics, and human injury tolerance. Dr. Fijan has conducted hundreds of biomechanical analyses in accidents ranging from single and multiple vehicle collisions, including passenger cars, light and heavy trucks, buses, bicycles and motorcycles.
Dr. Fijan also performs biomechanical analyses of claimed slips, trips and falls in a variety of non-automotive environments such as floors, sidewalks, and stairs.
Things that can be determined
How did an occupant move around during an accident?
What forces or joint motions did an occupant experience during the accident?
Does the testimony of how an occupant moved around make sense?
How large were the accident forces compared to injury tolerance thresholds or forces associated with everyday activities?
Which, if any, of an occupant’s claimed injuries could have been sustained during a specific accident?
Based on injuries and other evidence (e.g. windshield fracture), where was an occupant most likely positioned within the vehicle?
Was an occupant properly wearing the available seatbelt restraint?
If an improperly restrained occupant had been properly wearing the available seatbelt restraint, then what injuries may have resulted?
Did the injuries occur inside or outside of the vehicle (when ejection occurs)?
In a multi-impact accident, during which event did an occupant sustain a specific documented injury?
These and other questions can be addressed using rigorous biomechanical analyses consistent with peer-reviewed literature. Based on results from accident reconstruction analyses, and incorporating occupant-specific geometry and inertia data, the motions and forces an occupant experiences can be analyzed. Joint ranges of motion and impact forces may be estimated and compared with injury tolerance thresholds documented in the biomechanics literature, and also compared to joint motions and forces associated with benign everyday activities. An accident can be analyzed to determine if it included a mechanism for a specific occupant’s claimed injury.
For some occupant seating positions in some motor vehicle accidents, seatbelts may play a major mitigating role for certain injuries. Biomechanical analyses may assess the likelihood of a sustained injury having occurred if an occupant had been properly restrained, or conversely to determine if an occupant was likely wearing the restraint during the accident based on injuries, ejection from the vehicle, etc.
Relevant biomechanical and seatbelt analyses are performed based on:
estimated, known or assumed vehicle motions (accident reconstruction)
occupant seating positions
occupant height and weight
vehicle-specific interior geometry and structural stiffness
available seatbelt, airbag or other restraints
vehicle interior “witness marks”
documented occupant injuries
pedestrian or ejected occupant rest or impact positions
lists of activities an occupant participated in prior to an accident (for comparison purposes)