Anatomy of a Car Crash: Coup-Contrecoup Injuries and Crash Test Dummies

Abstract

Course name Instructor’s name Assignment due date Module 2 Discussion: Science Writing Activity: Car Crash Analysis 1. Coup-Contrecoup Injury A coup-contrecoup injury is a brain injury that involves two parts of the brain after a crash involving head movement. This type of traumatic injury affects the site of the initial impact of the brain and the opposite rebound site. A coup-contrecoup injury occurs because the human brain is encased in the cranial cavity surrounded by less dense fluid. The injury can occur when a car crash involves collisions inside the cranial cavity as a result of the brain’s movement within the cranial cavity. The site of initial impact is the part of the brain that is opposite the direction of the head’s movement as the denser fluid moves faster in the opposite direction than brain matter. The second injury occurs as a result of the rebound movement caused by the brain moving in the opposite direction. Since body organs vary in density from the fluid within which they are suspended, collisions occur within the human body after a car crash and sometimes cause a coup-contrecoup type of brain injury. 2. Crash Test Dummies Crash test dummies have contributed to research on car crashes by replacing human volunteers and providing data that engineers and medical professionals use to improve safety. They simulate the human body by showing how passengers in a car crash would suffer injuries or survive collisions. Like the human body, test dummies simulate organs and parts that would be affected by injuries during tests. They measure injuries by detecting the amount of force a body would experience in different scenarios and how such force would cause movements in body organs. The test dummies have parts with...