Scaling in neurotrauma: how do we apply animal experiments to people?

Matthew B Panzer; Garrett W Wood; Cameron R Bass

doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2014.07.002

Scaling in neurotrauma: how do we apply animal experiments to people?

Exp Neurol. 2014 Nov:261:120-6. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2014.07.002. Epub 2014 Jul 14.

Authors

Matthew B Panzer¹, Garrett W Wood², Cameron R Bass²

Affiliations

¹ Center for Applied Biomechanics, Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, USA.

PMID: 25035134
DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2014.07.002

Abstract

Scaling is an essential component for translating the clinical outcomes of a neurotrauma model to the human equivalent. This article reviews the principles of biomechanical scaling for traumatic brain injuries, and a number of different approaches to scaling the dose (inputs) and response (outputs) of an animal model to humans are highlighted. A particular focus on blast injury scaling is given as an ongoing area of research, and discussion on the implications of scaling on the current blast TBI literature is provided. The risk of using neurotrauma models without considering an appropriate scaling method is that injuries may be induced with non-realistic loading conditions, and the injury mechanisms produced in the laboratory may not be consistent with those in the clinical setting.

Keywords: Biomechanics; Blast TBI; Neurotrauma; Scaling.

MeSH terms

Animals
Blast Injuries / complications*
Blast Injuries / pathology
Brain / pathology*
Brain Injuries / etiology*
Brain Injuries / pathology
Disease Models, Animal*
Humans