Evaluation of a test system using a human body model for predicting hip fracture risks in elderly falls.

To address longstanding challenges in evaluating hip protectors and compliant flooring for preventing hip fractures in the elderly, test systems should replicate hip loading and accurately assess their performance. This study evaluated a thigh impact test system (drop tower) against human body model (HBM) simulations of a sideways fall. A pelvis spring-damper model representing pelvic compliance was incorporated into the system. The test system with the pelvic model reproduced HBM-derived femoral neck forces, whereas systems without it overestimated them. These results highlight the importance of incorporating a pelvic model to improve the biofidelity of thigh impact test systems.