A youth-specific helmet for preventing traumatic brain injury

PROJECT SUMMARY Head injuries, including nearly 4 million concussions per year, are common among the nearly 40 million participants in organized youth sports in the United States. Despite recent technologies marketed to reduce concussion risk, head injuries continue to rise among youth athletes. Furthermore, studies to improve protective equipment have largely focused on adult populations, leading to athletic equipment optimized for protection against the risk of catastrophic injuries from severe high-energy collisions. Protective equipment is needed that provides maximal protection across a wider range of impact energies including the lower, yet still dangerous, impact energies experienced at the youth level. Creating youth-specific helmets is essential for tackling the concussion epidemic among this vulnerable population of athletes. SoftShock is a novel shock absorber which manages impact energy to result in generally lower force levels than traditional foams used in helmets, giving it the potential to drastically reduce the risk of brain injury. We propose to integrate SoftShock technology into a youth football helmet to show the feasibility of the technology, afterwards expanding into broader markets such as bicycling, equestrian, child car seats, playground fall surfacing, and more. In this Phase I proposal, we are requesting funding to target the principal requirements for successful implementation of SoftShock technology in a youth helmet: 1) helmet comfort and fit 2) shock absorber unit weight and robustness, and 3) helmet performance. The completed helmet prototype from Phase 1 proposal will lead to a Phase II submission on the first ever prospective clinical study of a football helmet with the goal of having the first helmet validated to reduce the risk of concussion among youth. Specific Aim 1: Develop comfortable and well-fitting helmet interiors A detailed finite element model of our helmet will be used to determine the necessary size, placement, and distribution of SoftShocks in order to maximize head comfort and helmet fit across a range of youth head sizes. Specific Aim 2: Manufacture lightweight, durable, and recoverable shock absorbing units Softshock will be manufactured and unit tested to ensure that its weight, multi-impact durability, and recovery time meets or exceeds that of standard foams and air shocks. Specific Aim 3: Test helmet prototypes for performance SoftShocks will be integrated into a lightweight helmet shell, creating prototypes to be tested in standard certification protocols to demonstrate superior performance across a wide range of impact energies as compared to existing youth football helmets.PROJECT NARRATIVE The Camarillo Lab at Stanford University has recently invented the SoftShock, a soft and lightweight hydraulic shock absorber which has shown the potential in computational studies to drastically reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury when integrated within personal protective gear (PPE). The goal of this Phase I proposal is to show feasibility for use and commercial viability in youth PPE by optimizing this shock absorber for a youth football helmet and subjecting prototypes to extensive laboratory testing. Successful completion of this Phase I proposal will result in a Phase II application focused on a human subject study to have the first helmet clinically validated to reduce the number of concussions.