Concussion in professional football:​ performance of newer helmets in reconstructed game impacts:​ part 13

Viano, David C.<sup>1,2</sup>; Pellman, Elliot J.<sup>1,3</sup>; Withnall, Chris<sup>4</sup>; Shewchenko, Nick<sup>4</sup>

Affiliations

¹Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, National Football League, New York, New York

²ProBiomechanics LLC, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

³ProHEALTH Care Associates, LLP, Lake Success, New York

⁴Biokinetics and Associates Ltd., Ottawa, Canada

Abstract and keywords

OBJECTIVE: The performance of five newer helmets was compared with the baseline VSR-4 helmet in 10 reconstructed cases of National Football League (NFL) collisions causing concussion. The laboratory reconstructions were conducted to determine changes in concussion risk with newer football helmets.

METHODS: In 60 laboratory tests, translational and rotational head accelerations were measured in the striking and struck players represented by Hybrid III dummies. Six-axis upper neck loads and moments were measured in five cases with the struck player and five with the striking player. Biomechanical responses and concussion risks were evaluated for each collision to determine changes with newer helmet designs.

RESULTS: Thirty-two out of 50 reconstructed cases showed greater than 10% reduction in severity index with newer helmets compared with the VSR-4; four cases increased. The average reduction in concussion risk with newer helmets was 10.8% (range, 6.9–16.7%) based on severity index. The reduction was 9.7% (range, 6.5–13.9%) based on translational acceleration and 18.9% (range, 10.6–23.4%) with rotational acceleration. Neck responses in the struck player showed a general reduction in moment and force with newer helmets.

CONCLUSION: With newer football helmets, there was a trend toward 10 to 20% lower risks of concussion in reconstructed National Football League game collisions. However, a few designs and cases showed increased responses. The evaluation of football helmets to the proposed National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment concussion standard should lead to more uniform reductions in concussion risk with future football helmets.

Keywords: Biomechanics; Concussion; Football; Impact tolerances; Neck injury; Spearing; Sport injury prevention

Links

DOI: 10.1227/01.NEU.0000231851.97287.C2

PubMed: 16823324

WoS: 000240623900023

History

Received: 2005-12-29

Accepted: 2006-05-11

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Cited By (16)

Year	Entry
2007	Craig MJ, Bir CA, Viano DC. Jaw loading response of the human relative to current ATDs. In: Proceedings of the 35th International Workshop on Human Subjects for Biomechanical Research. 2007.71-84.
2020	Walsh DR, Ross AM, Newport DT, Mulvihill JJE. Investigating the mechanical and structural properties of the superior sagittal sinus. In: Proceedings of the 2020 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. 2020; Munich, Germany.543-552.
2012	Ocwieja KE, Mihalik JP, Marshall SW, Schmidt JD, Trulock SC, Guskiewicz KM. The effect of play type and collision closing distance on head impact biomechanics. Ann Biomed Eng. January 2012;40(1):90-96.
2012	Viano DC, Withnall C, Halstead D. Impact performance of modern football helmets. Ann Biomed Eng. January 2012;40(1):160-174.
2012	Viano DC, Halstead D. Change in size and impact performance of football helmets from the 1970s to 2010. Ann Biomed Eng. January 2012;40(1):175-184.
2013	McCrory P, Meeuwisse WH, Aubry M, Cantu B, Dvořák J, Echemendia RJ, Engebretsen L, Johnston K, Kutcher JS, Raftery M, Sills A, Benson BW, Davis GA, Ellenbogen RG, Guskiewicz K, Herring SA, Iverson GL, Jordan BD, Kissick J, McCrea M, McIntosh AS, Maddocks D, Makdissi M, Purcell L, Putukian M, Schneider K, Tator CH, Turner M. Consensus statement on concussion in sport: the 4th International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, November 2012. Br J Sports Med. April 2013;47(5):250-258.
2007	Viano DC, Casson IR, Pellman EJ. Concussion in professional football: biomechanics of the struck player—Part 14. Neurosurgery. August 2007;61(2):313-327.
2009	Moss WC, King MJ, Blackman EG. Skull flexure from blast waves: a mechanism for brain injury with implications for helmet design. Phys Rev Lett. September 4, 2009;103(10):108702.
2011	Walsh ES, Rousseau P, Hoshizaki TB. The influence of impact location and angle on the dynamic impact response of a Hybrid III headform. Sports Eng. March 2011;13(3):135-143.
2010	Elkin BS. Biomechanics and Biological Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury [PhD thesis]. Columbia University; 2010.
2018	Klein MJ. Development and Validation of a Surrogate Ankle for Biomechanical Testing of Footwear [Master's thesis]. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University; 2018.
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.
2020	Fonseca G. Development of a Functional Spinal Unit for Evaluation of Sports and Automotive Protective Equipment [Master's thesis]. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia; April 2020.
2007	Craig MJ. Biomechanics of Jaw Loading in Football Helmet Impacts [PhD thesis]. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University; 2007.
2019	Bian K. Predicting and Preventing Traumatic Brain Injury: A Novel Computational Approach [Master's thesis]. London, ON: Western University; August 2019.
2023	Bian K. Understanding Real-World and Laboratory Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Using the Computational Model With Brain Functional Regions [PhD thesis]. University of Western Ontario; 2023.