Utah Head Trauma Lab
The biological structures of the head and eye are continually changing with age. Rapid growth and development in young children, and rapid degradation in the elderly, makes identification of age-dependent structural and mechanical properties crucial to understanding patient specific injury and disease. In the Utah Head Trauma Lab, we explore the microscopic and macroscopic structure of the head and eye at different stages of development. We use principals of engineering to characterize the biomechanical response of these structures to injury and disease. These data not only help us understand the initiation of injury and disease, but also allow us to design and implement accurate and complex computer models that can accelerate the development of age-appropriate injury prevention, diagnosis and treatment strategies for traumatic brain and ocular injury.Student Spotlight
Kyle O'Sullivan
Name: Kyle O'Sullivan Hometown: Freehold, NJ Previous Degrees, Institutions: BS in Neuroscience from Allegheny College, PA Research Interests/Project: The interaction between brains and machines, specifically the improvement of foreign body response and brain-computer interface longevity. My project focuses on minimizing the tissue damage caused by the insertion and subsequent movement of the electrode. Honors/Awards: Psi Chi ps<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>... Read More
Recent Activity
New Project to Investigate Progressive PAC Damage
Dr. Coats recently received NSF funding to investigate progresssive damage at the brain-skull interface. The study involves high-rate testing and imaging of repeated loading in the subarachnoid…
Read MoreLizzie Rocks UROP Symposium
Congratulations to Elizabeth (Lizzie) Su for a successful UROP research experience and presentation! Lizzie used convolutional neural networks to predict injury prior to standard methods of detection. …
Read MoreAcoustic Warnings Reduce Head Trauma
Congratulations to Mohammad Homayounpour, PhD Graduate of Dr. Andrew Merryweather’s Ergonomics and Safety group on his publication Cervical muscle activation characteristic and head kinematics in males…
Read MoreIn Situ Mechanics of the Subarachnoid Space
Congratulations to PhD Graduate Nik Benko on his publication Mechanical characterization of the human pia-arachnoid complex published in the Journal of Mechanical Behavior and Biomedical Materials. In this…
Read MoreImpact Angle and Fall Height Effect Skull Fracture Patterns
Congratulations to Jiawei Yan on his recent publication The effect of impact angle and fall height on skujl fracture patterns in infants published in the Journal of Biomechanical…
Read More