Sport-related concussion is a major public health concern. In a recent BJSM publication, McGuine et al conducted a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate whether soccer headgear would reduce the rate or severity of concussions in adolescent athletes (nheadgear = 1505, nno_headgear = 1545).1 Both ‘control’ athletes (who wore no helmets) and the athletes who wore soccer headgear had similar concussion rates and recovery times after a concussion. In another study, headgear was also found to be ineffective in reducing concussion rates or recovery times in rugby union.2 Padding may seem like the most intuitive way to protect the head from injury. So why might this approach not be concussion-proof? Adding a foam pad can help ‘soften the blow’, by increasing the loading area and absorbing some of the impact energy. However, given a regular thickness pad, substantial impact energy is still transmitted to the head and produces a sharp head/skull acceleration. The skull acceleration in turn shakes and deforms its contents—the brain. Traditionally designed helmets and padding reduce focal loading and head linear accelerations that are associated with skull fracture risk.3 However, head rotation has been hypothesised to be a …

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运动脑震荡：头部撞击传感器能否帮助生物医学工程师设计更好的头盔？

与运动有关的脑震荡是一个主要的公共卫生问题。在最近的 BJSM 出版物中，McGuine 等人进行了一项随机对照试验 (RCT)，以评估足球头盔是否会降低青少年运动员脑震荡的发生率或严重程度（nheadgear = 1505，nno_headgear = 1545）。1 两个“对照”运动员（谁不戴头盔）和戴足球头饰的运动员在脑震荡后的脑震荡率和恢复时间相似。在另一项研究中，还发现头带不能有效降低橄榄球联盟的脑震荡率或恢复时间。2 衬垫似乎是保护头部免受伤害的最直观方式。那么为什么这种方法不能防脑震荡呢？添加泡沫垫可以通过增加加载面积和吸收一些冲击能量来帮助“减轻打击”。然而，给定一个常规厚度的垫子，大量的冲击能量仍然传递到头部并产生尖锐的头部/颅骨加速度。头骨的加速度反过来会震动并使其内容物变形——大脑。传统设计的头盔和衬垫减少了与颅骨骨折风险相关的焦点负荷和头部线性加速度。 3 然而，头部旋转已被假设为……