The need for a better understanding between the biomechanics of a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and the resulting immediate neuron-level changes is imperative in the design of personal protective devices or formulating post-injury treatment plans. While mTBI may not cause overt structural damage to the brain, it can be associated with a rapid onset of neurological dysfunction. It is thus crucial to understand the immediate neural outcomes from the biomechanical responses to trauma, specifically associating local strain fields to neuron-level changes. Given that the porcine brain has a highly folded neocortex that closely resembles a human brain, and can thus be used as an analog for studying the pathological effects of mTBI, this work presents an ex vivo porcine model of mTBI. The primary objective of this work is to link the neuron-level changes to the local strain field. Ex vivo brain tissues were sourced from a local abattoir immediately prior to testing, sliced to a thickness of 5 mm, marked for contrast, and tested in a drop tower configuration. Particle tracking algorithms were used to determine tissue displacement and strain fields within the tissues. A histopathological examination of the tissue specimens was undertaken and showed evidence of an impact-induced neural response that varied based on regions of the cortical structures. This finding supports the use of porcine models of mTBI due to the importance of the gyrencephalic brain morphometry on the tissue response and possibly injury mechanisms.
