Background

The number and magnitude of head impacts have been assessed in-vivo using inertial sensors to characterise the exposure in various sports and to help understand their potential relationship to concussion.

Objectives

We aimed to provide a comprehensive review of the field of in-vivo sensor acceleration event research in sports via the summary of data collection and processing methods, population demographics and factors contributing to an athlete’s exposure to sensor acceleration events.

Methods

The systematic search resulted in 185 cohort or cross-sectional studies that recorded sensor acceleration events in-vivo during sport participation.

Results

Approximately 5800 participants were studied in 20 sports using 18 devices that included instrumented helmets, headbands, skin patches, mouthguards and earplugs. Female and youth participants were under-represented and ambiguous results were reported for these populations. The number and magnitude of sensor acceleration events were affected by a variety of contributing factors, suggesting sport-specific analyses are needed. For collision sports, being male, being older, and playing in a game (as opposed to a practice), all contributed to being exposed to more sensor acceleration events.

Discussion

Several issues were identified across the various sensor technologies, and efforts should focus on harmonising research methods and improving the accuracy of kinematic measurements and impact classification. While the research is more mature for high-school and collegiate male American football players, it is still in its early stages in many other sports and for female and youth populations. The information reported in the summarised work has improved our understanding of the exposure to sport-related head impacts and has enabled the development of prevention strategies, such as rule changes.

Conclusions

Head impact research can help improve our understanding of the acute and chronic effects of head impacts on neurological impairments and brain injury. The field is still growing in many sports, but technological improvements and standardisation of processes are needed.

中文翻译：

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在运动中使用惯性传感器进行头部撞击研究：对方法、人口统计和导致暴露的因素的系统评价

背景

已经使用惯性传感器在体内评估头部撞击的次数和幅度，以表征各种运动中的暴露情况，并帮助了解它们与脑震荡的潜在关系。

目标

我们旨在通过总结数据收集和处理方法、人口统计数据和导致运动员接触传感器加速事件的因素，对运动中的体内传感器加速事件研究领域进行全面回顾。

方法

系统搜索产生了 185 项队列或横断面研究，这些研究记录了运动参与期间的体内传感器加速事件。

结果

使用包括仪表头盔、头带、皮肤贴片、护齿器和耳塞在内的 18 种设备对 20 项运动中的大约 5800 名参与者进行了研究。女性和青年参与者的代表性不足，并且报告了这些人群的模棱两可的结果。传感器加速事件的数量和幅度受到多种因素的影响，这表明需要针对运动进行分析。对于碰撞运动，男性、年龄较大和参加游戏（而不是练习）都有助于接触更多的传感器加速事件。

讨论

在各种传感器技术中确定了几个问题，努力应集中在协调研究方法和提高运动测量和影响分类的准确性上。虽然这项研究对于高中和大学男性美式足球运动员来说更为成熟，但在许多其他运动以及女性和青年人群中仍处于早期阶段。总结工作中报告的信息提高了我们对与运动相关的头部撞击的理解，并促进了预防策略的发展，例如规则的改变。

结论

头部撞击研究有助于提高我们对头部撞击对神经损伤和脑损伤的急性和慢性影响的理解。该领域在许多运动中仍在增长，但需要技术改进和流程标准化。