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| UQ Civil Engineering Senior Lecturer Dr Faris Albermani (left) and PhD student Zac Couper with the doll. Photo: Chris Stacey, The University of Queensland |
Research that could change the way legal systems worldwide deal with Shaken Baby Syndrome is being done in Queensland.
Last year in the United States, an estimated 400 babies died from being violently shaken. This year in the United Kingdom, British courts will hear an estimated 200 cases involving parents or carers charged with shaking a baby.
But up to now, doctors and police have had no definitive guide to use in determining exactly how much shaking has been inflicted, if any. A Queensland research team is changing all that.
Following a request from Clinical Associate Professor Dr Denis Stark with the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Department of Child Health, UQ civil engineering PhD student Zac Couper and his supervisor, Senior Lecturer Dr Faris Albermani, took on the challenge of building a model to simulate the mechanics of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
“I wanted a model that could not only help predict injuries but could also help form guidelines for caring for and handling babies and allow more accurate evidence to be given in court,” Professor Stark said.
Shaking can swell a baby’s brain and trigger internal bleeding, causing death in one third of cases and often permanent brain damage in surviving babies. The research team used a replica of a six-week-old baby to refine their numerical model of a baby brain.
They recorded the doll’s head and neck movements when shaken and compared these with brain scans and video of injured babies.
“Preliminary results with the model indicate a close correlation between the predicted and the actual areas of brain injury. The model has also demonstrated that sufficient force is generated by shaking alone to produce serious neurological damage,” Professor Stark said.
Shaken Baby Syndrome has caused legal controversy, particularly in the US and England, where some convictions for child abuse are being vigorously contested.
“Given a specific set of injuries, the aim is to be able to work out the actual force that caused those injuries and this could then be used to verify whether the accused shaker is telling the truth or not,” Mr Couper said.
Stage One of the research was partially funded by the Abused Child Trust and the team is now seeking funding for Stage Two to use silicone gel that resembles brain matter to record exactly what happens when people of different heights and builds shake the baby model.
Dr Albermani said the research will also help in the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in general and Shaken Baby Syndrome in particular.
f.albermani@uq.edu.au
z.couper@uq.edu.au
Last reviewed 15 March 2006