{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T15:19:18Z","timestamp":1772637558241,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772582400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Clinical Significance: Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), most frequently caused by falls, represent a major source of morbidity and mortality and pose significant challenges in forensic investigations, especially when events are unwitnessed or testimonies conflict. Despite advances in imaging and autopsy, reconstructing the mechanism of head trauma often remains impossible. The objective of this study is to assess how biomechanical modeling can support forensic practitioners by narrowing the range of plausible scenarios and strengthening evidence-based interpretation in complex medico-legal contexts, without seeking to establish legal causality or certainty. Case Presentation: This case report investigates forensic biomechanics as a decision-support tool using a combined multibody and finite element (FE) modeling approach. An initial set of twenty-five scenarios, derived from witness statements and investigative data, was reconstructed to simulate potential fall- and assault-related mechanisms. Multibody simulations with the human facet model were first performed to estimate head impact velocities and orientations. These parameters were then applied to an FE head model to evaluate tissue response. Conclusions: Skull fracture patterns and intracerebral von Mises stress distributions were analyzed and systematically compared with clinical, radiological, and autopsy findings. Although simulated stress magnitudes were generally lower than injury thresholds reported in the literature, several scenarios reproduced fracture propagation and intracerebral stress patterns consistent with the documented lesions, including corpus callosum involvement. This multidisciplinary approach highlights the growing role of biomechanics in forensic investigations and forensic anthropology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16050766","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T08:51:33Z","timestamp":1772614293000},"page":"766","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Forensic Analysis of Head Traumas: Can Biomechanics Shed Light?\u2014A Case Report"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-7347-6403","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carmen","family":"Rezek","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"LBA, Aix Marseille University, University Gustave Eiffel, 13015 Marseille, France"},{"name":"CNRS, EFS, ADES, Aix Marseille University, 13015 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1957-9510","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yves","family":"Godio-Raboutet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LBA, Aix Marseille University, University Gustave Eiffel, 13015 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5402-1726","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maxime","family":"Llari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LBA, Aix Marseille University, University Gustave Eiffel, 13015 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lucile","family":"Tuchtan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNRS, EFS, ADES, Aix Marseille University, 13015 Marseille, France"},{"name":"Forensic Department, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Marseille, La Timone, 264 rue St Pierre, 13005 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Caroline","family":"Capuani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forensic Department, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Marseille, La Timone, 264 rue St Pierre, 13005 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Catherine","family":"Boval","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forensic Department, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Marseille, La Timone, 264 rue St Pierre, 13005 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marie-Dominique","family":"Piercecchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNRS, EFS, ADES, Aix Marseille University, 13015 Marseille, France"},{"name":"Forensic Department, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Marseille, La Timone, 264 rue St Pierre, 13005 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lionel","family":"Thollon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LBA, Aix Marseille University, University Gustave Eiffel, 13015 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5171-8520","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cl\u00e9mence","family":"Delteil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNRS, EFS, ADES, Aix Marseille University, 13015 Marseille, France"},{"name":"Forensic Department, Assistance Publique-H\u00f4pitaux de Marseille, La Timone, 264 rue St Pierre, 13005 Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.ss6609a1","article-title":"Traumatic Brain Injury\u2013Related Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths\u2014United States, 2007 and 2013","volume":"66","author":"Taylor","year":"2017","journal-title":"MMWR Surveill. 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