Researchers have produced biomechanical tests to show how current football helmets do not protect football helmets from concussions.Researchers at BRAINS, Inc. have conducted biomechanical tests revealing the deficiency of current football helmet designs in protecting players from brain injury, particularly concussion.
Historically, helmet effectiveness has been measured through drop-tests, using a device approved by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE). The result is helmets that are optimized against skull fractures, bruising, and other focal effects.
“We modified the standard test device to consider rotationalacceleration in addition to conventional linear impact measures” explains John Lloyd, PhD.
Biomechanical researchers have long understood that angular forces can cause serious brain damage including concussion, axonal injury, and hemorrhages.
Using proprietary miniature sensors to measure concussion risk at the center of the brain, BRAINS researchers completed more than 330 tests across ten popular helmet brands. The team concluded that while these helmets provide excellent protection from linear impacts – those leading to bruising and skull fracture – they offer little or no protection against angular acceleration, a dangerous source of brain injury and encephalopathy.
The graph in the slideshow above shows percent reduction in linear impact acceleration, Head Injury Criterion (HIC), and angular acceleration provided by the different football helmets, compared to the same impact with no helmet. Note that all helmets provide considerable protection from skull fracture (blue) and focal brain impact (green), but are far less effective at reducing risk of diffuse brain injury and concussion and encephalopathy (red). In fact, some helmet designs offer no significant protection from concussion — and those that offer the least protection are among the most popular on the field.
The table, also in the slideshow above, presents a ranking of the more popular football helmets, from best to worst, based on their combined protection from skull fracture, focal brain impact and diffuse brain injury.
Protection against concussion and axonal injury is especially important for young players, including peewee, high school, and college participants, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of encephalopathy. Therefore, the need to develop headgear to protect susceptible individuals from life-changing brain damage is paramount.
Consistent with their innovative approach to meeting the challenges of brain trauma, combined with 20+ years of experience in biomechanics, and neurophysiology, BRAINS researchers have investigated several new technologies to measure and reduce the debilitating effects of concussion in football players. The team is poised to integrate their new technology into helmet design – a paradigm-shift in helmet construction – and bring to market a more comprehensive form of head gear to defend against catastrophic brain injuries while also mitigating linear forces associated with impact.
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