Element-14’s Design Challenge looks to prevent injuries from sudden impacts (via element14)
Everything is fun and games. You are just biding your time, playing the odds until… the sudden impact.
Sudden impacts can be (and often are) devastating to the human body, especially when it comes to head injuries and internal organ disruptions. Athletes, military personnel and astronauts are prime candidates to receive those types of injuries while working in their respective fields, however sometimes even head injuries such as a concussion can go unnoticed, which can lead to a whole host of health problems.
Take New York Jet Dave Herman for example- He played in the 1969 Super Bowl against the Baltimore Colts but couldn’t remember when the game was over due to the number of ‘head slaps’ he had taken during the game. Over the years, his memory has been on a steady decline as a direct result of repeated sudden impact injuries encored while playing and has been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.
Soldiers are no strangers to sudden impact injuries that they have incurred on the battlefield, in some cases repeatedly. With the increased use of IEDs, more soldiers have had more physical trauma than just losing life and limbs. Blast injuries have been described as having your head hit with a baseball bat due to the explosive shockwave. Internal organs are also subject to injury from blast trauma due to those concussive forces, so much so that the US Army outfitted members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team with sensors to garner data and monitor soldier’s vitals.
To help combat those risks, scientists and manufacturers are working on designing devices that can monitor and even help to prevent injuries due to sudden deceleration. Element-14 has also taken notice of the rising trend with sudden impact injuries that it warranted a new Design Challenge focused on wearable technology that monitors (or helps prevent) sudden deceleration injuries.
Some manufacturers have come up with some novel solutions that involve wearable devices outfitted with sensors that monitor health in a real-time setting. Most of those devices center on providing immediate feedback in an effort to garner medical attention quickly, which is key when treating those with sudden impact injuries. Those listed here are just a few examples of what’s currently available on the market at this point but new designs continue to be developed.
Reebok’s Checklight headwear monitors head trauma with LEDs that display the level of impacts (via Reebok)
Reebok is one of those companies that have designed a device to monitor the level of head trauma associated with sudden impacts for athletes. The company’s Checklight headwear features three LEDs that light up corresponding to the impact damage. Green for all is good, yellow for moderate impacts and a blinking red LED indicates a severe impact. The LEDs are displayed on the back of the headwear and is visible to coaches even while wearing a helmet. The embedded sensors also relay where the impact occurred, making it easy for medical personnel to focus on the injured area.
MC10’s Biostamp temporary tattoo features an array of sensor that monitors the wearer’s health (via Biostamp)
The company behind Reebok’s Checklight technology has designed a temporary tattoo of sorts that is capable of monitoring physical motion along with temperature, heart rate and other data. That data is then sent wirelessly to the wearer’s mobile device or directly to health professionals. The secret to the Biostamp is that the electronics are stretchable and printed onto a flexible polymer that conforms to the wearer’s body. Unlike other health monitoring devices, the Biostamp can be placed anywhere, is waterproof and has a weeklong battery life before needing replaced.
Jolt’s wearable sensor was designed for youth athletes to keep tabs on concussions in real-time (via Jolt & kickstarter)
Adults aren’t the only ones who are susceptible to sudden impact injuries as youth athletes have encountered their fair share as well, especially in sports such as football, soccer and hockey. To address the impact issue for children, Ben Harvatine designed the Jolt Sensor that allows parents and coaches monitor their kids while playing their favorite sports.
The sensor can be clipped onto most gear and features a soft silicon enclosure that’s waterproof so even swimmers can wear them. It’s interesting to note that of all youth sports played in America around 300,000 suffer a concussion and 40% of those can be attributed to girls’ soccer. Jolt’s sensor could help to reduce those numbers with active real-time monitoring in order to get those players immediate medical attention.
As mentioned earlier, scientists and manufacturers are not the only ones looking to help curb impact injuries as element-14 has recently issued a new Design Challenge that focuses on preventing sudden deceleration trauma. The Sudden Impact Design Challenge tasks the online community to design their own preventative wearable health device. Anyone can enter and submit their project proposals who undertake the challenge. 15 finalists will be chosen who have the best ideas and will receive a set of select components and a $500 grant to bring their ideas to fruition.
Those components include a heart rate sensor, temp sensor and accelerometer (as well as a few others), which are provided thanks to Element-14’s partnership with Analog Devices, Tektronix and Electrolube. Winner assessment will be based on the devices accuracy, durability, cost and convenience. The grand prize winner will receive an awesome gift package that includes a Tektronix MDO3104 Oscilloscope, an Apple MacBook Air laptop and Withings Home HD Sensors (an HD camera outfitted with environmental sensors). Not to be left out, all competitors who finish will receive a Withings Plus Sports Watch that monitors vitals to help improve the wearer’s health.
Those interested in competing in the Sudden Impact Design Challenge can enter here: http://www.element14.com/community/community/design-challenges/sudden-impact#Kit
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