Development of novel optical force sensors for applications in helmet and concussion research

数以百万计的儿童、青少年和成年人参加的运动增加了他们头部和脑损伤的风险。在北美，每年有数百万人遭受脑损伤，造成数十亿美元的社会损失。在许多运动项目中，头盔的使用消除了致命的头部损伤，但这些头盔在减少脑震荡发生率方面并不有效。为了预防脑震荡，必须清楚地了解头部撞击的机制(力的速度、大小和持续时间；以及加速度)及其与脑震荡的关系。这种理解目前还不完整，因此，头盔设计师目前无法设计出防止脑震荡的头盔。这一计划在提高我们对头盔性能、伤害预防和改进头盔设计方面的长期潜力是很大的。拟议的计划将导致第一个传感器系统，可以测量在头盔和脑震荡研究中使用的试验假人头的头盔/头界面上的力。该系统将允许第一次动态测量头盔撞击期间的时间力(随时间变化的力)。新的传感器系统和头盔力量的首次时间测量将是对头盔科学的两个原创性、高影响力的贡献。拟议的头盔撞击过程中的力研究将提供第一批实验数据，以确定力的大小、持续时间和位置是否与损伤指标相关，并可能导致同时包含力和加速度的损伤指标的改进。通过模拟头盔/头部匹配场景对碰撞过程中的作用力进行的拟议研究将提供第一个量化方法，以了解作用力和伤害指标如何随头盔匹配而变化。目前的文献中缺乏关于上述所有方面的数据，因此这些将是影响很大的贡献。随着对头盔、头部损伤和脑震荡保护机制的进一步了解，头盔设计师可以设计出下一代头盔，既可以防止致命的头部伤害，也可以防止包括脑震荡在内的非致命伤害，这将反过来减少从事运动的所有人群的脑震荡发生率。

Millions of children, adolescents and adults participate in sports that carry with them increased risk of head and brain injury. In North America, millions of people sustain brain injury each year, resulting in societal costs in $Billions. In many sports, helmet use has eliminated fatal head injuries, but these helmets have not been effective at reducing concussion incidence. To prevent concussion, a clear understanding of the mechanics of head impact (force rates, magnitudes and durations; and accelerations) and its connection with concussion must be understood. This understanding is currently incomplete and, therefore, helmet designers are currently unable to design helmets that prevent concussion. The long term potential of this program to improve our understanding of helmet performance, injury prevention and to improve helmet design is high. The proposed program will lead to the first sensor system that can measure force at the helmet/head interface of test-dummy heads used in helmet and concussion research. The system will allow the first dynamic measurements of temporal forces (forces through time) during helmeted impacts. The novel sensor system and the first temporal measurements of helmet force will be two original, high impact contributions to helmet science. The proposed study of forces during helmeted impact will provide the first experimental data into whether force magnitude, duration and location correlate with injury metrics and could potentially lead to improved injury metrics that incorporate both forces and accelerations. The proposed study of forces during impact with simulated helmet/head fit scenarios will provide the first quantified approach to understanding how forces and injury metrics vary with helmet fit. Data on all of the above aspects is lacking in the current literature and therefore these will be high impact contributions. With improved understanding of the mechanics of head protection with helmets, head injury and concussion, helmet designers could design the next generation of helmets that prevent both fatal head injuries and non fatal injuries including concussion, which would in turn reduce concussion incidence in all segments of the population engaged in sport.