Mouthpiece for mTBI Detection during Adolescent Contact and Collision Sports

Project Summary Abstract There is a need for new inexpensive tools to discover potential concussive events or mild traumatic brain injuriesmTBIson the playing fieldAs we discover more about the long term effects of concussionssubconcussive blowsand the importance of rest following a concussive eventthe need for tools to identify concussions is becoming an increasing public concernMany of these nominallymildinjuries lead to poor neurological outcomes that adversely affect an individual s quality of lifei esecond impact syndromepost concussion syndromeand long lasting neurocognitive deficits such as learning disabilitiesmemory problemsand emotional or behavioral changesDespite increasing public awareness of this issueTBIs are difficult to identify as athletes commonly hide the signs and symptomsonlyof cases result in loss of consciousnessand other mTBI signs and symptoms may only last for fifteen minutes or fewerRecognition of TBI s during sports activities is very important because individuals with TBI s are much more vulnerablegiven further impactsto more severe brain injury until they are healedAdditionallywhile recent research indicates that younger athletes are more likely to sustain an mTBI and are more vulnerable to long term effectsthere is little actual data linking clinical outcomes with biomechanical assessment for pre teens and adolescentsSince there is currently no helmet or safety gear that is protective against concussion during athleticsmany resources are being put into concussion education and risk managementRisk management is currently centered on the macro scale with strict return to play guidelines and league rules or state laws that prohibit full contact practices more than three times a week for exampleThe proposed solution uses a unique design to provide a mouthpiece with better accuracy and or lower cost than currently available commercial products that can be used in all sportsThe solution will provide a sideline alert of a potential concussion for further clinical evaluation and head impact dosimetryThe research team assembled for this project includes a commercialization partner with current custom mouthpiece products and deep industry tiesa successful engineering teamand a research group that has performed previous mouthpiece impact sensor studies