Nonpenetrating traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are linked to cavitation. The structural organization of the brain makes it particularly susceptible to tears and fractures from these cavitation events, but limitations in existing characterization methods make it difficult to understand the relationship between fracture and cavitation in this tissue. More broadly, fracture energy is an important, yet often overlooked, mechanical property of all soft tissues. We combined needle-induced cavitation with hydraulic fracture models to induce and quantify fracture in intact brains at precise locations. We report here the first measurements of the fracture energy of intact brain tissue that range from 1.5 to 8.9 J/m², depending on the location in the brain and the model applied. We observed that fracture consistently occurs along interfaces between regions of brain tissue. These fractures along interfaces allow cavitation-related damage to propagate several millimeters away from the initial injury site. Quantifying the forces necessary to fracture brain and other soft tissues is critical for understanding how impact and blast waves damage tissue in vivo and has implications for the design of protective gear and tissue engineering.

非穿透性创伤性脑损伤 (TBI) 与空化有关。大脑的结构组织使其特别容易受到这些空化事件造成的撕裂和骨折的影响，但现有表征方法的局限性使得很难理解该组织中断裂和空化之间的关系。更广泛地说，断裂能是所有软组织的一个重要但经常被忽视的机械特性。我们将针诱导空化与水力骨折模型相结合，在精确位置诱导和量化完整大脑中的骨折。我们在此报告了完整脑组织断裂能的首次测量，其范围为 1.5 至 8.9 J/m ²，具体取决于大脑中的位置和所应用的模型。我们观察到骨折始终发生在脑组织区域之间的界面上。这些沿着界面的裂缝使得与空化相关的损伤能够从最初的损伤部位传播到几毫米之外。量化使大脑和其他软组织骨折所需的力对于理解冲击波和爆炸波如何损伤体内组织至关重要，并且对防护装备和组织工程的设计具有重要意义。