Laboratory and On-field Data Collected by a Head Impact Monitoring Mouthguard

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Neurology
• Sports Medicine

Background:

• Concussion remains a significant cause of acute and chronic injury in sports, automotive, and military settings.
• Current understanding of concussion injury mechanisms and risk functions is insufficient, impeding the development of safety measures.
• Previous research suggests repetitive head impacts may predispose individuals to concussion, utilizing instrumented helmets and mouthguards.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the knowledge gap regarding concussion mechanisms and risk.
• To develop, test, and deploy an innovative head impact monitoring mouthguard (IMM) system.
• To gather in-situ data on athlete head impacts for establishing concussion risk thresholds.

Main Methods:

• Development and testing of a novel head impact monitoring mouthguard (IMM) system.
• In-situ deployment of the IMM system to collect high-quality head impact data from athletes.
• Long-term data collection to identify potential concussive events and mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs).

Main Results:

• Successful deployment of the IMM system in an athletic setting.
• Acquisition of valuable in-situ data on head impact exposure in athletes.
• Establishment of a foundation for future analysis linking impact data to concussive events.

Conclusions:

• The IMM system provides a viable method for monitoring head impacts in real-world conditions.
• Collected data will be crucial for defining actionable, risk-based thresholds for concussion and mTBIs.
• This technology has the potential to significantly advance concussion research, safety testing, and protective countermeasure development.