An instrumented mouthguard for real-time measurement of head kinematics under a large range of sport specific accelerations
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Head impacts in sports can produce brain injuries. The accurate quantification of head kinematics through instrumented mouthguards (iMG) can help identify underlying brain motion during injurious impacts. The aim of the current study is to assess the validity of an iMG across a large range of linear and rotational accelerations to allow for on-field head impact monitoring. METHODS: Drop tests of an instrumented helmeted anthropometric testing device (ATD) were performed across a range of impact magnitudes and locations, with iMG measures collected concurrently. ATD and iMG kinematics were also fed forward to high-fidelity brain models to predict maximal principal strain. RESULTS: The impacts produced a wide range of head kinematics (16-171 g, 1330-10,164 rad/s2 and 11.3-41.5 rad/s) and durations (6-18 ms), representing impacts in rugby and boxing. Comparison of the peak values across ATD and iMG indicated high levels of agreement, with a total concordance correlation coefficient of 0.97 for peak impact kinematics and 0.97 for predicted brain strain. We also found good agreement between iMG and ATD measured time-series kinematic data, with the highest normalized root mean squared error for rotational velocity (5.47 ± 2.61%) and the lowest for rotational acceleration (1.24 ± 0.86%). Our results confirm that the iMG can reliably measure laboratory-based head kinematics under a large range of accelerations and is suitable for future on-field validity assessments.
Date Issued
2023-08-10
Date Acceptance
2023-08-07
Citation
Sensors, 2023, 23 (16), pp.1-15
ISSN
1424-8220
Publisher
MDPI AG
Start Page
1
End Page
15
Journal / Book Title
Sensors
Volume
23
Issue
16
Copyright Statement
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37631606
PII: s23167068
Subjects
Acceleration
Biomechanical Phenomena
Boxing
Motion
Sports
gyroscopes
head kinematics
mouthguard
piezoelectric sensors
sporting impacts
traumatic brain injury
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Switzerland
Article Number
7068
Date Publish Online
2023-08-10