Fig 1.
Anatomy of the brachial plexus.
The brachial plexus is made of five sections: Roots, trunks, divisions, cords, and terminal branches (© 2004–2023 AboutKidsHealth)[3].
Table 1.
Average dimensions for infant brachial plexus.
Table 2.
Mechanical properties of the neonatal brachial plexus and spinal cord–measured in piglet brachial plexus roots at two loading rates [4,5].
Fig 2.
(A) Original geometry of the spinal cord + brachial plexus root/trunk model with the initial angles at each nerve root indicated; (B) Boundary conditions and stretch-inducing pressure applied to distal ends; and (C) Mesh of 2D FEM of a neonatal brachial plexus and spinal cord.
Table 3.
Maximum stress values in the proximal nerve root for Case 1 (low loading-rate properties– 0.01 mm/sec) and Case 2 (high loading-rate properties– 10 mm/sec).
Stress values were identified at the proximal end of the nerve root, where it joins with the spinal cord.
Fig 3.
Von mises stress results of Case 1 model (low loading-rate properties– 0.01 mm/sec).
Fig 4.
Results of Case 1 model (low loading-rate properties– 0.01 mm/sec) with a range of nerve root angle iterations.
Table 4.
Results of Case 1 model (low loading-rate properties– 0.01 mm/sec) with a range of nerve root angle iterations.
Table 5.
Comparison of predicted displacement and strain compared to maximum experimental strain for Case 1 (low loading-rate properties– 0.01 mm/sec) and Case 2 (high loading-rate properties– 10 mm/sec).
Displacement values were identified at the distal end of the trunk.