A novel repetitive head impact exposure measurement tool differentiates player position in National Football League

Karton, Clara; Hoshizaki, T. Blaine; Gilchrist, Michael D.

Affiliations

¹University of Ottawa, Health Sciences, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada

²University College Dublin, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Belfeld, Dublin, 4, Ireland

Abstract

American-style football participation poses a high risk of repetitive head impact (RHI) exposure leading to acute and chronic brain injury. The complex nature of symptom expression, human predisposition, and neurological consequences of RHI limits our understanding of what constitutes as an injurious impact afecting the integrity of brain tissue. Video footage of professional football games was reviewed and documentation made of all head contact. Frequency of impact, tissue strain magnitude, and time interval between impacts was used to quantify RHI exposure, specifc to player feld position. Diferences in exposure characteristics were found between eight diferent positions; where three unique profles can be observed. Exposure profles provide interpretation of the relationship between the traumatic event(s) and how tissue injury is manifested and expressed. This study illustrates and captures an objective measurement of RHI on the feld, a critical component in guiding public policy and guidelines for managing exposure.

Links

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-54874-9

PubMed: 31992719

PubMedCentral: PMC6987098

History

Received: 2019-03-01

Accepted: 2019-11-18

Online: 2020-01-28

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Cited By (6)

Year	Entry
2024	Azadi A, Dehghan P, Graham R, Hoshizaki TB. A deep learning network for detecting head impacts in ice hockey from 2D game video. In: Proceedings of the 2024 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 11-13, 2024; Stockholm, Sweden.98-108.
2021	Karton C, Hoshizaki TB. Biomechanics of sport-related neurological injury. Clin Sports Med. January 1, 2021;40(1):19-38.
2021	Zimmerman KA, Kim J, Karton C, Lochhead L, Sharp DJ, Hoshizaki T, Ghajari M. Player position in American football influences the magnitude of mechanical strains produced in the location of chronic traumatic encephalopathy pathology: a computational modelling study. J Biomech. March 30, 2021;118:110256.
2022	Wynn GF. Repeatability of a Novel Prototype Surrogate Neck Model Developed for Omni-Directional Head Impacts [Master's thesis]. Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta; 2022.
2022	Larsen K. Comparison of Brain Strain Magnitudes Calculated Using Head Tracking Impact Parameters and Body Tracking Impact Parameters Obtained from 2D Video [Master's thesis]. University of Ottawa; 2022.
2022	Lowther S. Effect of Rule Changes Occurring Between 2003 and 2016 on Head Impact Frequency and Brain Strain Magnitude in North American Professional Ice Hockey [Master's thesis]. University of Ottawa; 2022.