Cavitation causes brain injury

Abstract

In this study, an artificial transparent head surrogate with high-speed photography discovers the formation and collapse of cavitation bubbles near the contrecoup regions as the head is exposed to a sudden translational impact. The cavitation damages the brain surface and produces a shock wave through the brain matter. Based on a novel experimental design, this new finding uncovers the mystery of the motion and deformation of the soft brain matter, which is not visible otherwise. It suggests that current brain injury criteria may underestimate the risk of head collision.