Wilson C Hayes

Wilson C. "Toby" Hayes (born January 15, 1943) is an American biomechanical engineer and forensic consultant known for his contributions to orthopedic biomechanics and injury prevention, particularly in the study of hip fracture risk, skeletal aging, and bone remodeling. He held senior faculty appointments at Stanford University, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology While in the Boston area he co-founded and directed the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He founded and is president of Hayes and Associates, Inc. a consulting firm providing expert testimony in injury biomechanics for both plaintiff and defense cases, in both civil and criminal matters.

Education Hayes earned a B.S. (1964) and M.S. (1966) in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Northwestern University in 1970. He completed postdoctoral training at the Laboratory for Experimental Surgery in Davos, Switzerland (1970) and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery of the Karolinska Institute (1971).

Academic career

Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and (by courtesy) Department of Surgery (Orthopedics), Stanford University (1971–1976) Associate Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital (1979–1985) Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1983–1985) Maurice Edmond Mueller Professor of Biomechanics, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he founded and directed the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory. (1985–1998) Professor of Nutrition and Exercise Science, Oregon State University (1998–2001) Professor of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and Vice Chair for Research in Orthopedics, Oregon Health & Sciences University (1998-2004

Fracture prediction in the hip and spine and quantitative CT His 1985 publication on predicting vertebral body compressive fracture using quantitative computed tomography was a key publication in this area. In the early 1990s Hayes was involved in research and publications in the use of quantitative tomography for estimating risk of hip fracture from falls and predicting the likelihood of fracture of the hip and spine. Xiang-Dong Edward Guo, Ph.D., later Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. Michael J. Yaszemski, M.D., Ph.D., later Professor at Mayo Clinic. Catherine F. Corrigan, Ph.D., later CEO of Exponent

Consulting Following his academic career Hayes served as an expert witness and founded Hayes and Associates, a biomechanics consulting practice specializing in injury causation and accident reconstruction analysis and litigation support focused on the biomechanical causation of injuries in vehicular, industrial, premises, and product-related incidents. American Academy of Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Research Award (1983) Elected as a fellow, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (1993) Giovanni Borelli Award from the American Society of Biomechanics (1995) for his lecture "An Update on the Movement of Animals: Falls Among Elderly Humans" The Borelli Award is given by the American Society of Biomechanics and recognizes outstanding career accomplishment in biomechanics research. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center established the Wilson C. Hayes Distinguished Lecture Series in Musculoskeletal Health in his honor (2022)

Publications Hayes authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles on bone biomechanics, fracture healing, and injury prevention. He co-edited the textbook Basic Orthopaedic Biomechanics with Van C. Mow.

Key Peer Reviewed Publications

Hayes, W. C, Mockros, L. F. Viscoelastic properties of human articular cartilage. Journal of applied physiology. 31(4): 562–568, 1971. Hayes, W. C., Keer, L. M., Herrmann, G., Mockros, L. F. A mathematical analysis for indentation tests of articular cartilage. Journal of biomechanics. 5(5): 541–551,1972. Carter, D. R., Hayes, W. C. Bone compressive strength: the influence of density and strain rate. Science. 194(4270): 1174–1176, 1976. Ruff, C. B., Hayes. W. C. Subperiosteal expansion and cortical remodeling of the human femur and tibia with aging. Science. 217(4563): 945–948, 1982. Huberti, H.H. and Hayes, W.C.: Patellofemoral contact pressures: The influence of Q-angle and tendo-femoral contact. J. Bone Joint Surg. [Am], 66: 715–724, 1984. McBroom, R.J., Hayes, W.C., Edwards, W.T., et al.: Prediction of vertebral body compressive fracture using quantitative computed tomography. J. Bone Joint Surg. [Am], 67: 1206–1214, 1985. Lotz, J.C. and Hayes, W.C.: The use of QCT to estimate risk of fracture of the hip from falls. J. Bone Joint Surg. [Am], 72: 689–700, 1990. Shea, M., Edwards, W.T., White, A.A., and Hayes, W.C.: Variations of stiffness and strength along the human cervical spine. J. Biomech., 24: 95–107, 1991. Robinovitch, S.N., Hayes, W.C., and McMahon, T.A.: Prediction of femoral impact forces in falls on the hip. J. Biomech. Eng., 113: 366–374, 1991. Hayes, W.C., Myers, E.R., Morris, J.N., et al.: Impact near the hip dominates fracture risk in elderly nursing home residents who fall. Calcif. Tissue Int., 52: 192–198, 1993. Greenspan, S.L., Myers, E.R., Maitland, L.A., Resnick, N.M., and Hayes, W.C.: Fall severity and bone mineral density as risk factors for hip fracture in ambulatory elderly. JAMA, 271: 128–133, 1994. Hayes, W.C., Myers, E.R., Robinovitch, S.N., et al.: Etiology and prevention of age-related hip fractures. Bone, 18:77S-86S, 1996. Hayes, W.C., Erickson, M. S., Power, E. D., Forensic injury biomechanics. Annu. Rev. Biomed. Eng. 9(1): 55–86, 2007. Erickson M.S. and Hayes, W.C.: Drag factor attenuation for rotating vehicles. Accid. Reconstr. J. 18(3): 19–23, 2008. Lee, E.L., Lee, P.J., Erickson, M.S., Hayes, W.C.: Increase in vehicle front, rear, and side stiffness coefficients in the past twenty years... SAE Int 2014-01-0351: 1–6, 2014. Lee, E.L., Lee, P.J., Hayes, W.C.: Head accelerations in out-of-position postures in low speed rear impacts. SAE Int 2014-01-0490: 1–7. 2014. Power, E.D., Bauer, J.J., Hayes, W.C.: Reconstruction of a shooting incident to determine position of shooter and timing of each shot fired. Ann For Res Anal 5(1): 105, 2018.

Key Patents

Increasing bone fracture resistance by repeated application of low magnitude forces resembling trauma forces. U.S. Patent 5,752,925, 1998. Bone fracture prevention garment and method. U.S. Patent 5,599,290, 1997. Bone fracture prevention method. U.S. Patent 5,545,128, 1996. Bioerodible polymers for drug delivery in bone. U.S. Patent 5,286,763, 1994. Intramedullary nailing method and apparatus. U.S. Patent 5,100,404, 1992.