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头部和大脑受伤的风险。在北美，每年有数百万人遭受脑损伤，导致数十亿美元的社会成本。在许多运动中，头盔的使用已经消除了致命的头部损伤，但这些头盔并不能有效地减少脑震荡的发生率。为了防止脑震荡，必须清楚地了解头部撞击的力学（力的速率，幅度和持续时间;和加速度）及其与脑震荡的联系。这种理解目前是不完整的，因此，头盔设计者目前无法设计防止脑震荡的头盔。这个项目的长期潜力是提高我们对头盔性能、伤害预防和改进头盔设计的理解。拟议的计划将导致第一个传感器系统，可以测量力的头盔/头部接口的测试假人头部在头盔和脑震荡的研究。该系统将允许首次动态测量头盔撞击期间的时间力（时间力）。新的传感器系统和头盔力的第一次时间测量将是对头盔科学的两个原创性的、高影响力的贡献。拟议的头盔冲击力研究将提供第一个实验数据，以确定力的大小，持续时间和位置是否与伤害指标相关，并可能导致改进的伤害指标，包括力和加速度。在模拟头盔/头部贴合场景的冲击过程中，拟议的力研究将提供第一个量化的方法来了解力和伤害指标如何随头盔贴合度而变化。目前的文献中缺乏关于上述所有方面的数据，因此这些将是高影响力的贡献。随着对头盔头部保护机制、头部损伤和脑震荡的进一步了解，头盔设计者可以设计出下一代头盔，既防止致命的头部损伤，也防止包括脑震荡在内的非致命损伤，这反过来又会减少从事体育运动的所有人群中脑震荡的发生率。

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.