News Article
Simbex provides first high-school football helmets with MEMS impact monitors
High school football fans in the town of Tolono, Illinois are being introduced to new helmets.
High school football fans in the town of Tolono, Illinois are being introduced to new helmets. These are now being worn by the Unity High School Rockets and are outfitted with the same electronic encoder modules now used by a handful of college teams.
The purpose of the high-tech headgear, which uses six strategically placed, spring-loaded MEMS accelerometers to wirelessly beam information to a Web-based system on a laptop computer on the sidelines, is to more effectively, and more immediately, detect when blows to players' heads may result in concussions or more severe brain injuries.
The initial cost of this system is likely to prohibit widespread use, especially at the high school level. The system being tested at Unity has a price tag of about US$60,000 and each helmet costs an additional US$1,000.
The purpose of the high-tech headgear, which uses six strategically placed, spring-loaded MEMS accelerometers to wirelessly beam information to a Web-based system on a laptop computer on the sidelines, is to more effectively, and more immediately, detect when blows to players' heads may result in concussions or more severe brain injuries.
The initial cost of this system is likely to prohibit widespread use, especially at the high school level. The system being tested at Unity has a price tag of about US$60,000 and each helmet costs an additional US$1,000.
