Concussion technology used in rugby match - Could it work in the NHL?

Shrimper

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Feb 20, 2010
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/30671380

Saracens players wore impact sensors behind their ears in Saturday's win against London Irish as they launched a new concussion research programme.
The device, called the xPatch and produced by a US company, measures the size and angle of hits to the head.

"We don't want to meet our players in 20 years' time to find them suffering from dementia and reflect we suspected something was going on but didn't really know," said Edward Griffiths.
"We want to know - we want answers."
The Saracens chief executive added: "We feel obliged to ask these questions, however uncomfortable they may be."

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If this is found to help detection and improve the safety of players then could it work in the NHL?
 
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Lonewolfe2015

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There's better technologies being developed than that. I'm specifically interested in seeing if any of the mouthguard prototypes make it into testing.

But yeah, a bunch could be used in the future and probably will be. Due to the nature of the game, a lot of people have concluded that it's impossible to design a helmet today which would dampen the force of the blows enough to prevent concussions on some of the biggest hits. So the next best thing is to detect the force of the impact to ascertain if it is concussion-level or not.
 

rahzar

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So the next best thing is to detect the force of the impact to ascertain if it is concussion-level or not.

Problem with that is there is no 'concussion threshold' when it comes to impact forces. Some people suffer concussion-like symptoms after low impact forces, whereas others who suffer higher impact forces remain symptom free.
 

2020 Cup Champions

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They really need to look into the effectiveness of the helmets. The padding looks awfully thin and I have a hard time believing the helmet does anything but directly transfer energy to the cranium.
 

Goose of Reason

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Problem with that is there is no 'concussion threshold' when it comes to impact forces. Some people suffer concussion-like symptoms after low impact forces, whereas others who suffer higher impact forces remain symptom free.

And CTE can result from smaller impact blows, such as repeated punches to the head.
 

comotellamas13

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They really need to look into the effectiveness of the helmets. The padding looks awfully thin and I have a hard time believing the helmet does anything but directly transfer energy to the cranium.

The primary function of helmets is to prevent skull fractures. The padding can help to dampen trauma to the head, but there will never be a "concussion proof" helmet. Blows to the body lead to rotational forces on the head which can't be prevented by any helmet.
 

leafsgirl12

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Apr 29, 2014
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There's better technologies being developed than that. I'm specifically interested in seeing if any of the mouthguard prototypes make it into testing.

But yeah, a bunch could be used in the future and probably will be. Due to the nature of the game, a lot of people have concluded that it's impossible to design a helmet today which would dampen the force of the blows enough to prevent concussions on some of the biggest hits. So the next best thing is to detect the force of the impact to ascertain if it is concussion-level or not.

right now the concussion tests in the nhl are not great since for example leo komarov passed the concussion tests after the hit by ovi but continued to have symptoms until like a week ago
 

2020 Cup Champions

Formerly Sila v Kucherove
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The primary function of helmets is to prevent skull fractures. The padding can help to dampen trauma to the head, but there will never be a "concussion proof" helmet. Blows to the body lead to rotational forces on the head which can't be prevented by any helmet.

Maybe not, but I think football helmets are much closer to ideal than hockey helmets, given the differences in padding.
 

Captain Bowie

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Jan 18, 2012
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A great inovation on football that started gaining momentum this year is the guardian cap.

They look kinda silly, but supposedly are very effective in reducing impact.

15797a.jpg
 

Devilsfan992

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Apr 14, 2012
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There's better technologies being developed than that. I'm specifically interested in seeing if any of the mouthguard prototypes make it into testing.

But yeah, a bunch could be used in the future and probably will be. Due to the nature of the game, a lot of people have concluded that it's impossible to design a helmet today which would dampen the force of the blows enough to prevent concussions on some of the biggest hits. So the next best thing is to detect the force of the impact to ascertain if it is concussion-level or not.

I know of researchers who are currently developing/developed sensors to provide the force that is being impacted onto the helmet. It'll work real-time rather than pulling the data through a USB, by transferring information to the coaches/doctors etc as contact is made. In a year or so, this type of technology will be more prevalent to the public as it is in the testing stages currently.
 

justonetime

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Mar 13, 2009
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I'm not advocating horse collars and face cages, just to take a look at the padding.

Hockey players have their face and most importantly jaws exposed, a large number of concussions come from hits to that area.

As far as larger helmets go I'm sure they could make them, maybe they would be better, but there is no way players would wear them unless forced to
 

Lonewolfe2015

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I know of researchers who are currently developing/developed sensors to provide the force that is being impacted onto the helmet. It'll work real-time rather than pulling the data through a USB, by transferring information to the coaches/doctors etc as contact is made. In a year or so, this type of technology will be more prevalent to the public as it is in the testing stages currently.

There's a lot of different approaches being taken to this end. I'm skeptical that sensors built into a helmet will have any sort of effectiveness in hockey (helmets are rarely seated properly, fall off, etc). But I like the idea of mouthguards and I like the idea of other technologies which don't rely on the impact force to measure the physiological reaction the body has to the impact rather than the actual impact (as others noted, the force has a variable response to each individual based on velocity and physiology).

People do need to stop thinking that they can just add padding to the helmets though, that's a wasted effort. One of my old Biomechanics Professors once told me that no matter how you design the helmets anything within the realm of reality (dimensionally), given today's technology, will never prevent the impact of a severe hit from causing a concussion.
 

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