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Professor King received his B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 1955 and his Ph.D. in Biomechanics from Wayne State University in 1966. He is presently a Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Wayne State University and Director of the Bioengineering Center. His major areas of research are trauma biomechanics and low back pain. His contributions include many computer models simulating head impact, side impact, spinal response to vertical acceleration, knee and ankle impact as well as experimental studies related to the determination of brain motion during blunt impact to the head and the mechanism of injury to the neck due to whiplash.
His talk will focus on the unresolved issues on the laboratory research in bioengineering at Wayne State University (WSU). The Bioengineering Center at WSU has a research history of over 60 years and is the first laboratory in USA engaged in research in impact biomechanics. Head injury was the first problem tackled by two pioneers in the field, Professor Lissner and Dr. Gurdjian. However, the mechanism of brain injury is still not resolved. Recent WSU data show that angular acceleration may not be the principal mechanism of brain injury and that strain rate is now a more likely candidate. However, in the course of this research, a reliable method of measuring angular acceleration, a contribution of biomechanics to the field of applied mechanics, has been discovered.
Other unresolved questions are the source of neck pain in victims of rearend collisions – the so-called whiplash syndrome. This is a medico-legal issue which threatens to engulf the entire world, wherever there is automobile insurance. The third problem is aortic rupture, a potentially fatal condition which is poorly understood. The injury cannot be reproduced in the laboratory on a regular basis but is seen in the field in severe impacts.
Finally, there is the problem of hip fractures among the elderly. These fractures occur in falls, usually when the elderly victim falls to the side. The mechanism is being debated because it is not sure if the fall caused the fracture or if the fracture caused the fall. The mechanism of the injury must first be determined before an effective prevention strategy can be implemented.
Members of the Press are cordially invited to attend the lecture. For enquiries, please contact Ms Hailey Lam at Faculty of Engineering on 2859 2483.
Professor of Mechanical Engineering of Wayne State University to deliver Lecture at HKU
23 May 2002
Professor Albert I. King of Wayne State University is to deliver a Bioengineering Distinguished Lecture entitled Challenges in Bioengineering - Unresolved Issue at 5:30pm on Friday, May 24 at Lecture Theatre A, Chow Yei Ching Building, the University of Hong Kong.
Professor King received his B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 1955 and his Ph.D. in Biomechanics from Wayne State University in 1966. He is presently a Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Wayne State University and Director of the Bioengineering Center. His major areas of research are trauma biomechanics and low back pain. His contributions include many computer models simulating head impact, side impact, spinal response to vertical acceleration, knee and ankle impact as well as experimental studies related to the determination of brain motion during blunt impact to the head and the mechanism of injury to the neck due to whiplash.
His talk will focus on the unresolved issues on the laboratory research in bioengineering at Wayne State University (WSU). The Bioengineering Center at WSU has a research history of over 60 years and is the first laboratory in USA engaged in research in impact biomechanics. Head injury was the first problem tackled by two pioneers in the field, Professor Lissner and Dr. Gurdjian. However, the mechanism of brain injury is still not resolved. Recent WSU data show that angular acceleration may not be the principal mechanism of brain injury and that strain rate is now a more likely candidate. However, in the course of this research, a reliable method of measuring angular acceleration, a contribution of biomechanics to the field of applied mechanics, has been discovered.
Other unresolved questions are the source of neck pain in victims of rearend collisions – the so-called whiplash syndrome. This is a medico-legal issue which threatens to engulf the entire world, wherever there is automobile insurance. The third problem is aortic rupture, a potentially fatal condition which is poorly understood. The injury cannot be reproduced in the laboratory on a regular basis but is seen in the field in severe impacts.
Finally, there is the problem of hip fractures among the elderly. These fractures occur in falls, usually when the elderly victim falls to the side. The mechanism is being debated because it is not sure if the fall caused the fracture or if the fracture caused the fall. The mechanism of the injury must first be determined before an effective prevention strategy can be implemented.
Members of the Press are cordially invited to attend the lecture. For enquiries, please contact Ms Hailey Lam at Faculty of Engineering on 2859 2483.
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