4 Things Football's Concussion Problem Is Teaching Medtech4 Things Football's Concussion Problem Is Teaching Medtech

January 13, 2015

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4 Things Football's Concussion Problem Is Teaching Medtech

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2. Ensuring Both Accuracy and AffordabilityA former British Army officer, Danny Crossman went on to design explosion impact sensors for the U.S. Marines, and even helped create a bomb suit that was highlighted in the movie "The Hurt Locker." But he says the toughest project he's ever handled involved the sports helmet impact sensor the Shockbox. Debuting in 2011 and sold by an Ottawa, Ontario–based company called Impakt Protective that Crossman co-founded, the strip-like sensor sticks on a helmet using Velcro. The Shockbox needed to be affordable enough that parents and athletes would buy it but accurate enough to sense head hits hard enough that they needed to be checked out."That’s where the business challenge is, trying to make a complicated sensor as accurate as it can be at a low price, but with a very simple user interface," Crossman says. "The one area where this market will define itself is the accuracy of the data."The need for accuracy meant Crossman had to focus on everything from standard electronics to size, weight, power, and cost. "For hockey, it has to be low profile and pass the mirror test. For football it has to be thin enough to be inside the helmet and not affect the helmet," Crossman says.The Shockbox uses long-range Bluetooth to get a signal to a coach or parent's smartphone or tablet. The signal warns when an athlete has taken a risky hit to the head. In no way way does it prevent concussions, but it at least indicates when something should be checked out. "My smoke alarm goes off quite a bit, but I've never had a fire in my house," Crossman says.Find out about the next lesson learned >>

4 Things Football's Concussion Problem Is Teaching Medtech

There's a scramble underway to find devices that help prevent brain injuries in U.S. football, as well as other high impact sports such as hockey (not to mention what the rest of the world calls football). The quest for such devices is providing plenty of lessons to learn for mobile health and wearable device designers in general.

This is a serious issue: The National Football League alone has proposed a $765 million settlement of concussion-related lawsuits. It estimates that nearly a third of its players will end up with a debilitating brain condition like Alzheimers or dementia and will have twice the lifetime risk as the general population of developing such conditions. The NFL and General Electric have been funding grants to some of the companies investigating devices and software to better monitor tackles on the field and their effects, including concussions.

Read on to find out some of the design challenges behind these devices >>

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker. (Nancy Crotti contributed to this story.)

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