Instrumented Mouthguard Isolating Head Impact Acceleration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for measuring head impact acceleration are inadequate, leading to conflicting conclusions about the mechanism of injury and unreliable brain injury metrics, as they rely on imperfect data from constrained sensors or non-biofidelic dummy tests, which are subjective and costly, limiting real-time diagnosis and prevention of concussions and long-term neurodegeneration.
Innovation Solution
An oral appliance, such as an instrumented mouthguard, with a body defining a channel to accommodate the upper dentition and affixed motion sensors, including accelerometers or gyroscopes, providing high sampling rates to accurately measure head impact accelerations and velocities, while isolating sensors from jaw perturbances to improve measurement accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If sensors are placed in contact with the lower jaw to measure head impact acceleration, then measurement coverage is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to jaw perturbance
Solution Approach 1:
The oral appliance is divided into distinct components: an upper jaw component with a first sensor, and a lower jaw component with a second sensor. This segmentation allows independent measurement of skull acceleration (first sensor) and jaw acceleration (second sensor), enabling the system to capture comprehensive head impact data while isolating the skull measurement from jaw perturbations through subsequent signal processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the lower jaw component and its accelerometer as an intermediary measurement tool. By measuring jaw acceleration separately and using signal processing to subtract jaw perturbations from the total measured acceleration, the system indirectly isolates the skull acceleration component. This intermediary approach allows accurate skull measurement without direct contact between the primary sensor and the skull during impact events.
2Reliability
If video analysis is used to count head impacts and diagnose concussions, then diagnostic capability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to subjectivity and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The oral appliance autonomously measures and records head impact acceleration data using integrated sensors and onboard processing. The device self-monitors skull and jaw acceleration, automatically detects impact events based on predefined thresholds, and stores data for later analysis. This eliminates the need for external video analysis, providing objective, real-time concussion detection that is both accurate and efficient for clinical and athletic applications.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The oral appliance offers high accuracy in measuring head impact data, enabling reliable detection of both sub-concussive and concussive impacts, improving the quality of research, detection, and prevention of short-term brain injuries and long-term neurodegenerations.
Implementation Method 1
The motion sensor includes at least one of an accelerometer or a gyroscope
Implementation Method 2
The motion sensor includes at least one of an accelerometer or a gyroscope
Data Source
AI summary
An oral appliance includes: 1) a body defining a channel to accommodate an upper dentition; and 2) a motion sensor. The body includes a front portion defining a recess, and the motion sensor is affixed to the front portion.