Services
Biomechanical Services
Determining how, when, where, and why injuries were caused.
Our experts specialize in impact injury biomechanics related to motor vehicle accidents. Determinations are made by analyzing occupant kinematics, injury causation, restraint system use / effectiveness and more. We use forensic injury biomechanics to provide analysis, consultation, and expert witness services to the legal community.
Medical
File Review
Occupant
Kinematics
Impact
Analysis
Biomechanical Modeling and Testing
Injury
Causation
Medicolegal Trial Displays
MEDICAL FILE REVIEW
The sheer size of a medical file can be intimidating and overwhelming. Determining what materials are important or relevant to injury causation can make a difference in litigation.
We have years of experience reviewing medical files including records related to trauma, chronic conditions, pre-existing, and/or degenerative diagnoses. We will thoroughly and accurately review all available medical records and provide a succinct summary of the relevant materials such as timeline of diagnoses, patient demographics and anthropomorphics, as well as the extent and likely mechanisms of all diagnosed pathology
MEDICAL FILE REVIEW
We can also communicate complex medical diagnoses and affected anatomy to any audience as needed.
OCCUPANT KINEMATICS
Occupant kinematics involves analyzing, modeling, and/or describing how an occupant moves during an accident. This helps us to determine forces applied to parts of the body, and in turn the potential for injury. A person’s recollection may differ from the actual physics of the event.
OCCUPANT KINEMATICS
By applying fundamental laws of motion (such as Newton’s laws), we can completely and accurately describe occupant motions throughout the accident sequence, from low-speed, in-line collisions to rollovers and high-speed, multiple impacts.
IMPACT ANALYSIS
Impact analysis involves the study of rapid loading events. These can include rapid changes in speed (often represented by a delta-V) and/or rapid changes in loading magnitude or direction (typically represented by an acceleration vector). Human tissue is viscoelastic which means it is sensitive to the speed with which loading is applied. Therefore, understanding impacts (or rapid loading events) is critical to determining the potential for injuries.
IMPACT ANALYSIS
Dr. Pfeiffer has extensive training and experience in the field of impact analysis. He has published multiple peer-reviewed articles which define the effect of rapid loading (≥100mm/s) on human tissues. Impacts can be induced by multiple sources including but not limited to contact between rigid objects. Dr. Pfeffer can examine the evidence to identify possible contact loading events.
BIOMECHANICAL MODELING AND TESTING
Some accidents are complex enough that they require biomechanical modeling and or testing of the specific loading conditions involved to understand and define the potential for injuries. We have years of training and experience with sophisticated biomechanical modeling and simulation, including but not limited to finite element analysis (FEA), tissue remodeling, and impact analysis.
BIOMECHANICAL MODELING AND TESTING
Dr. Pfeiffer has published findings of biomechanical models and simulation in multiple peer-reviewed publications. We specialize in producing thorough and highly accurate validated patient-specific biomechanical models which are directly applicable to your situation.
BIOMECHANICAL MODELING AND TESTING
Dr. Pfeiffer has extensive experience with biomechanical testing of human tissue to determine thresholds of various human tissues under different loading conditions.
INJURY CAUSATION
Determining the potential for injury causation from an accident requires a special skillset. We have extensive training and experience to thoughtfully and methodically examine the specific factors involved in an accident to determine to a reasonable degree of engineering certainty the cause of any alleged injuries.
