Human Short-Latency Somatosensory Evoked Potentials in Impact Acceleration Research: Equipment, Procedures and Techniques
Abstract
The Naval Biodynamics Laboratory has been investigating the neurophysiological effects of impact acceleration on humans. The goal of this research program is to establish impact injury thresholds for properly restrained personnel. This report summarizes the techniques and equipment configurations developed for neuro-physiological impact research and offers suggestions for future research. Our efforts have focused on the use of somatosensory evoked potentials to assess the integrity of the central nervous system of humans undergoing impact accelerations. In our experiments we have exposed human research volunteers to impact acceleration ranging from three to fifteen times the force of gravity (3 to 15 g's) in various directions. These experiments provide data to help determine thresholds of injury to cervico- cortical neural pathways during impact events and indicate that the potential for injury may be reduced if these injury thresholds are taken into consideration in the designs of cockpits and emergency aircraft egress and recovery systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA232732
Entities
People
- David Matson