Mouthpiece Sensor Head Impact Characterization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems fail to accurately detect and characterize head impacts in athletes participating in contact sports, particularly in young athletes who are at high risk for concussive traumatic brain injuries (cTBI) and long-term neurological deficits, due to the unknown nature of head impact conditions responsible for these injuries.
Innovation Solution
A head impact monitor system comprising a mouthpiece with sensors to measure linear and rotational impacts, which calculates and displays acceleration at the center of gravity of the head, using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors and data transformation algorithms to provide real-time kinematic and kinetic data, enabling accurate impact classification and potential injury prediction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensors are placed in the mouthpiece to detect head impacts, then measurement capability is improved, but the system cannot accurately characterize the impact at the center of gravity of the head due to the unknown relative position between sensor location and center of gravity
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary registration of the relative position between the sensor location in the mouthpiece and the center of gravity of the head before impact detection. This pre-established spatial relationship allows the system to accurately transform sensor measurements into center of gravity impact characteristics without requiring real-time position determination.
2Productivity
If acceleration data is collected at the sensor location, then data acquisition is improved, but the acceleration cannot be accurately represented at the center of gravity of the head without position registration
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the registered relative position information as an intermediary to transform acceleration data. The transformation component acts as a mediator that converts sensor location acceleration measurements into accurate center of gravity acceleration representations by applying the pre-registered spatial relationship.
3Measurement precision
If the system calculates acceleration at the center of gravity using transformed data, then impact characterization is improved, but the system complexity increases due to additional processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the complex spatial transformation calculations in advance by registering the relative position between sensor and center of gravity locations. This preliminary action stores the transformation parameters, allowing real-time impact characterization to use pre-computed relationships rather than performing complex calculations during each impact event.
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 system effectively detects and characterizes head impacts, providing real-time data for immediate action and long-term injury assessment, helping to prevent and diagnose neurological disorders by accurately measuring and classifying the severity of impacts.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of sensors each arranged on the mouthpiece, defining a sensor location, configured to generate sensor data responsive to an impact and including a first acceleration
Data Source
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Figure 3
AI summary
A system for characterizing an impact to a user comprising: a sensor assembly configured to measure a linear acceleration and an angular velocity at a sensor position; a data transform component operatively connected to the sensor assembly and configured to represent a location of interest in one of the head and the neck of the user relative to the sensor position as a time-varying function and to calculate an acceleration at the location of interest as a linear combination of the linear acceleration and a cross-product of the angular velocity with a relative velocity between the sensor position and the location of interest; and a system interface configured to provide the calculated acceleration at the location of interest to a user in a human-perceptible form.