Mouthguard Technology and Concussions
Sportsguard Laboratories (SLI) is working alongside the Cleveland Clinic to research and innovate ways, through a mouthguard, to monitor the effects of concussions that happen when playing sports. SLI is working on the mouthguard aspect of this research project by providing technology advanced materials for state of the art mouthguard designs while the Cleveland Clinic implements technology and researches and analyzes the data. Concussions in athletes have been increasing, so this non-profit organization and mouthguard company have paired up to take action. SLI and the Cleveland Clinic could eventually have outcomes that influence the way the sports and medical industry interact.
SLI is a recognized industry leader in the design of mouthguard material and technology. Since 1996, SLI has custom fabricated tens of thousands of mouthguards for athletes of all ages and levels of competition. SLI has custom designed mouthguards for more than 30 professional teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, in addition to numerous colleges, high schools, and youth athletic programs. Regardless of competition level, all of SLI’s athletes have competed with confidence and have benefited from the maximum protection of SLI mouthguard technologies.
The Cleveland Clinic is currently working on the aspect of this project that entails researching ways to monitor sport related concussions. Research teams have been formed to help create and research technologies that could ultimately be used in the future. Vince Miele, Edward Benzel. And Adam Bartsch are working on incorporating technology with mouthguards in order to track the movements of an athlete’s head after he or she takes a hit.
For this project, 10 St. Ignatius High School hockey players will be wearing mouthguards made by Sportsguard in order to start testing certain technologies. Each player has a special mouthguard that they wear in the game which contains an accelerometer and gyroscope. The accelerometer is capable of measuring the acceleration while the gyroscope measures how the neck rotates when taking a hit. This research allows the Cleveland Clinic to analyze data to figure out the kinds of hits that are associated with concussions. This also allows researchers to figure out how these hits can affect players in the short and long run. This technology can ultimately convey data to coaches and athletic trainers when an athlete is at medical risk from a serious hit.
While SLI provides state of the art mouthguards, the Cleveland Clinic have been able to research and potentially change the way concussions are handled. This project has brought numerous people together with different professional backgrounds to help research, create, and implement technology that could ultimately impact the future of athletes and concussions.
