Technology Developed at Cleveland Clinic to Measure Head Impacts for Rugby Players featured in Crain’s

A high-tech mouthguard, developed with Cleveland Clinic technology, will be used to measure head impacts and track the long-term health and safety of professional rugby players. The mouthguard’s technology records head impacts and uses Bluetooth transmission to report linear and angular accelerations and velocities.

Research conducted at Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute and Lerner Research Institute determined that putting impact sensors in a mouthguard would be more effective for measuring head accelerations than putting them in a headband or helmet. Prevent Biometrics, a spinoff company that was formed in 2015 and acquired the technology through a licensing agreement with Cleveland Clinic, connected with World Rugby in February 2021. Following initial discussions, World Rugby conducted a head impact monitoring study on youth rugby players in New Zealand using the mouthguards. In October, World Rugby announced new performance specifications that will require players hit in the head at 70g or above to undergo assessment for a head injury. The technology also has the potential to be used to track head impacts in members of the military.

Article via Crain’s Cleveland Business

A high-tech mouthguard developed with Cleveland Clinic technology will be used to measure head impacts and track the long-term health and safety of thousands of professional rugby players.

World Rugby, the Dublin-based governing body for the sport of rugby union, will start mandating the use of the Prevent Biometrics’ Intelligent Mouthguard for approximately 7,500 professional Rugby Union players beginning in 2024.

The mouthguard’s technology records head impacts and uses Bluetooth transmission to report linear and angular accelerations and velocities. It measures head impact direction and location and contact workload. Clinicians can use that information to identify whetheran athlete should undergo a concussion assessment.

A team of researchers at the Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute and Lerner Research Institute first devised the concept in 2010.

Dr. Edward Benzel, chairman emeritus of Cleveland Clinic’s Department of Neurological Surgery, told Crain’s that researchers determined that putting impact sensors in amouthguard would be more effective for measuring head accelerations than putting themin a headband or helmet.

“The only strategy that really works well is to have something fixed to the skull,” Benzel said. “The jaw moves, so that can’t be fixed to the skull. But the upper row of teeth, the maxilla, is rigidly part of the skull.”

The inventors worked with Cleveland Clinic Innovations, the Clinic’s commercialization arm, to further develop the technology. The started seeking patent protections and acquiring government grants and contracts. In 2015, a spinoff company, Prevent Biometrics, formed and acquired the technology through a licensing agreement with the Clinic. That company is headquartered in Minnesota.

Dr. Adam Bartsch, chief science officer at Prevent Biometrics, said the company connected with World Rugby in February 2021. Bartsch sent an email to the medical director of World Rugby, explaining how the technology could be utilized to document how hard players are hit and keep track of their long-term health.

“A head impact happens in 10 milliseconds,” he said. “You blink your eyes, and it’s 200milliseconds. So, the idea that you could watch and fi nd all of the head impacts that were serious is really a difficult task, which is one of the reasons we invented the tech, to give those clinicians another tool in their tool kit.”

Following initial discussions, World Rugby conducted a head impact monitoring study onyouth rugby players in New Zealand using Prevent Biometrics’ mouthguards. In October,World Rugby announced new performance specifi cations that will require men hit in thehead at 70g or above and women hit at 55g to undergo assessment for a head injury.

“The advances in smart mouthguard technology mean elite players will be better cared for than ever before,” said World Rugby chief medical officer Dr. Eanna Falvey in a statement. “We are taking smart mouthguards out of the realm of medical research and putting them into the world of everyday performance management to continue to manage player welfare in the best way possible.”

Bartsch said the technology also has the potential to be used to track head impacts in members of the military, and that the company has been in conversation with the Department of Defense.

SOURCE Crain’s Cleveland Business