We have developed an in vitro traumatic brain injury platform to study the effects of compressive forces on neuronal damage and inflammation-induced injury in 3D cortical microtissues. (See Gonzalez-Cruz, R., Yang, W., et al., 2024.)

The goal of this work is to identify injury thresholds at various time points post-traumatic injury at which cortical microtissues experience injury. This work will allow researchers to detect injury thresholds and predict injury severity in a temporal fashion which is essential for studying both the progression of tissue damage and therapeutic interventions. Additionally, these injury probabilities can also be used to inform design decisions in the development of protective head gear that more effectively mitigates traumatic brain injury.

This work is conducted in collaboration with Prof. Haneesh Kesari at Brown University, Prof. Christian Franck at University of Madison Wisconsin, and Prof. Andrea Armani at USC as a part of the Physics-based Neutralization of Threats to Human Tissues and Organs (PANTHER) Research Group.