T.H.U.M.S. (Total HUman Model for Safety) is an advanced injury-simulation software that measures injury to parts of the body not measurable with conventional crash test dummies. More Info
T.H.U.M.S. (Total HUman Model for Safety) is an advanced injury-simulation software. T.H.U.M.S. has two million distinct parts, including bones, ligaments, tendons and the muscular systems, enabling Toyota to better understand injury mechanisms in crashes that have historically been difficult to analyze with current crash test dummies.
Toyota is using T.H.U.M.S. to better understand the mechanisms that cause injuries to vehicle occupants and pedestrians in car crashes, using the data collected to help develop advanced safety technologies for airbags, seatbelt systems and vehicle body structures. In one case, T.H.U.M.S. was used to study low-speed rear impacts to help reduce the risk of whiplash injuries.
Internal organs are particularly vulnerable during collisions, with injuries to them accounting for approximately half of all injuries sustained during automobile collisions. T.H.U.M.S. provides Toyota with more data than ever before to help them create the next generation of safety features on their vehicles. Less Info
The T.H.U.M.S. software could be used to design the perfect workout to help an injured person's body recover. By analyzing the needs and limitations of an injured patient, the system could be used to create a series of exercises that world be able to strengthen the damaged parts while minimizing unproductive effort as well as potentially damaging activities. First, the operator would input exactly where and how the patient's body was damaged. Then the system would calculate the strains placed on those parts by a range of exercises and recommend which ones would be the most beneficial. It could even be used to guide the patient through several different routines as their body mends.
Thousands of cases of knee anterior cruciate ligament, (ACL), injuries happen in the US alone, 100,000 need reconstructive surgery each year. We can use T.H.U.M.S. to design an Active Knee Brace that deploys two small airbags, above & below the knee. How does it work? Well-placed sensors detect the forces acting on the knee joint and a small battery-powered electronic device calculates the force applied to the ACL and its direction. If the wearer’s knee joint is subjected to a force that exceeds a threshold value within a critical solid angle, the air bags "kick-in" and make the leg bones move in the opposite directions, thus saving the ACL. The active knee brace is reusable if the air bags did not deploy.
When elderly people fall, their injuries are often fatal. Some seniors are so terrified of falling that they dare not move about freely. My idea can make the world a better place for the elderly and their families and friends by using the exquisite T.H.U.M.S. crash test simulation technology to analyze the dynamics of falls and to recommend countermeasures. T.H.U.M.S. would simulate bath tub, curb, stairway, and other falls.
An example of a possible countermeasure could be padding or mini-air bags for elderly people's clothing. This protection would minimize or eliminate injuries and fear of falling that ruins quality of life.
My idea is to work with medical providers to build databases of different injuries resembling a car crash or physical shocks to the body like bike crashes, fights, fall-injuries, gun shots in the cities and in the battlefields, and how to efficiently administer care in those critical moments. Then a description of an injury to a 911 call or one gathered on the way to the injury location can be put into hand-held devices equipped with the model to determine ahead of time the types of organ injuries the EMTs should anticipate. This will aid the EMTs administer proper cares on the way to the hospital, including reducing the miss-diagnoses that happen quite often where people are sent home because there was no obvious sign of damage.
Share the challenge with your friends: