A youth-specific helmet for preventing traumatic brain injury

项目总结 头部受伤，包括每年近400万次脑震荡，在近4000万人中很常见 美国有组织的青年体育活动的参与者。尽管最近市场上的技术是为了减少 脑震荡的风险，年轻运动员头部受伤的人数继续上升。此外，要改进的研究 防护装备在很大程度上侧重于成人群体，导致运动装备得到优化 防止严重高能碰撞造成灾难性伤害的风险。防护装备是 需要在更广泛的撞击能量范围内提供最大保护，包括较低但仍然 在青年层面上经历的危险的冲击力。创造专为年轻人设计的头盔对于 应对这一脆弱的运动员群体中的脑震荡流行病。 SoftShock是一种新型减震器，它可以管理冲击能量，从而降低通常的力水平 与头盔中使用的传统泡沫相比，它有可能大幅降低脑损伤的风险。我们 建议将SoftShock技术集成到青少年足球头盔中，以展示该技术的可行性， 之后扩展到更广阔的市场，如自行车、马术、儿童汽车座椅、游乐场瀑布 浮出水面，等等。 在这个第一阶段的提案中，我们正在申请资金，以达到成功的主要要求 SoftShock技术在青年头盔中的应用：1)头盔舒适性2)减震单元 重量和坚固性，以及3)头盔性能。第一阶段建议书中完成的头盔原型 将导致提交关于足球头盔的第一项前瞻性临床研究的第二阶段报告，目标是 对第一顶头盔进行验证，以降低年轻人脑震荡的风险。 具体目标1：开发舒适和合身的头盔内饰 我们将使用头盔的详细有限元模型来确定必要的大小、位置和 为了最大限度地提高头部舒适性和头盔适配性，我们推出了SoftShock系列产品，适合各种尺寸的年轻人。 具体目标2：制造重量轻、经久耐用、可回收的减震装置 将制造SoftShock并对其进行单元测试，以确保其重量、多次冲击耐久性和恢复 时间达到或超过标准泡沫和空气冲击。 具体目标3：测试头盔原型的性能 SoftShock将被集成到一个轻量级的头盔外壳中，创建将在标准测试中进行测试的原型 认证协议可在多种冲击能量范围内展示卓越的性能 与现有的青少年足球头盔相比。

PROJECT SUMMARY Head injuries, including nearly 4 million concussions per year, are common among the nearly 40 million participants in organized youth sports in the United States. Despite recent technologies marketed to reduce concussion risk, head injuries continue to rise among youth athletes. Furthermore, studies to improve protective equipment have largely focused on adult populations, leading to athletic equipment optimized for protection against the risk of catastrophic injuries from severe high-energy collisions. Protective equipment is needed that provides maximal protection across a wider range of impact energies including the lower, yet still dangerous, impact energies experienced at the youth level. Creating youth-specific helmets is essential for tackling the concussion epidemic among this vulnerable population of athletes. SoftShock is a novel shock absorber which manages impact energy to result in generally lower force levels than traditional foams used in helmets, giving it the potential to drastically reduce the risk of brain injury. We propose to integrate SoftShock technology into a youth football helmet to show the feasibility of the technology, afterwards expanding into broader markets such as bicycling, equestrian, child car seats, playground fall surfacing, and more. In this Phase I proposal, we are requesting funding to target the principal requirements for successful implementation of SoftShock technology in a youth helmet: 1) helmet comfort and fit 2) shock absorber unit weight and robustness, and 3) helmet performance. The completed helmet prototype from Phase 1 proposal will lead to a Phase II submission on the first ever prospective clinical study of a football helmet with the goal of having the first helmet validated to reduce the risk of concussion among youth. Specific Aim 1: Develop comfortable and well-fitting helmet interiors A detailed finite element model of our helmet will be used to determine the necessary size, placement, and distribution of SoftShocks in order to maximize head comfort and helmet fit across a range of youth head sizes. Specific Aim 2: Manufacture lightweight, durable, and recoverable shock absorbing units Softshock will be manufactured and unit tested to ensure that its weight, multi-impact durability, and recovery time meets or exceeds that of standard foams and air shocks. Specific Aim 3: Test helmet prototypes for performance SoftShocks will be integrated into a lightweight helmet shell, creating prototypes to be tested in standard certification protocols to demonstrate superior performance across a wide range of impact energies as compared to existing youth football helmets.