ELYRIA, Ohio - For more than a decade, football equipment manufacturer Riddell has been analyzing head impact data gathered through sensors. Sensors, that for last 10 years, have only been available in Riddell's $1000.00 HITS helmet. However, recently, the company unveiled its newest sensor, InSite.
"We've recorded over two million impacts and we've been able to analyze those impacts to develop our thresholds," said Riddell project manager Allison Boersma.
Boersma says the company based its thresholds off an advanced head impact metric, known as HITsp, which measures linear acceleration, rotational acceleration, the duration of a hit and the location of a hit. According to company research, the measurement has a higher correlation to diagnosed injury.
"The impact to the helmet is very different than what the impact of the head is. So, we are able with our design to measure the impact to the head," said Boersma.
If the impact has the potential to cause injury, specifically a concussion, an alert will be sent from the player unit, which contains five pressure sensors, to the alert monitor, which can be held on the sidelineS. Alerts will be sent for single impacts and multiple impacts, which have the potential to cause a concussion. All of the data can be downloaded from the monitor to the InSite player management software for coaches and medical personnel to analyze.
"We are looking at it as a tool to help inform how they run practices, how they run drills, whether they have players that have techniques that are leading to potential over-exposure," said Boersma.
Riddell InSite runs $!50.00 per unit. However, it's not available for individual purchase. InSite must be purchased at the team level.
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