Comparison of Ice Hockey Goaltender Helmets for Concussion Type Impacts

Clark, J. Michio; Taylor, K T; Post, Andrew; Hoshizaki, T. Blaine; Gilchrist, Michael D.

doi:10.1007/s10439-018-2017-7

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…There has, however, been a significant amount of research investigating the link between head impact conditions in ice hockey and those recreated in the laboratory and the associated impact attenuation of ice hockey headgear under these conditions. In 2016 and 2018, Clark and colleagues measured the impact attenuation of standard ice hockey helmets for different impact events in ice hockey 53,54 . Using a HIII head and an unbiased neckform, the authors carried out drop tests onto an MEP pad (representing falls onto ice), linear impact tests with a nylon hemispherical pad and a 36mm thick vinyl nitrile pad underneath (representing elbow strikes), and a (68mm) vinyl nitrile foam pad and a reebok shoulder pad (recreating shoulder strikes).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of soft-shelled rugby headgear to lower regional brain strain metrics during standard drop tests

Stitt,

Kabaliuk,

Alexander

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background The growing concern for player safety in rugby has led to an increased focus on head impacts. Previous laboratory studies have shown that rugby headgear significantly reduces peak linear and rotational accelerations compared to no headgear. However, these metrics may have limited relevance in assessing the effectiveness of headgear in preventing strain-based brain injuries like concussions. This study used a rapid estimation finite element model to quantify regional brain strain mitigation of rugby headgear during drop tests. Tests were conducted on flat and angled impact surfaces across different heights, using a Hybrid III headform and neck. Results Headgear presence generally reduced the peak rotational velocities, with some headgear outperforming others. However, the effect on peak regional brain strains was less consistent. Of the 5 headgear tested, only 2 consistently reduced the peak regional brain strains, but in general only marginally, and in isolated cases, resulted in an increase in the peak regional brain strain. The 3 conventional headgear showed no consistent reduction in the peak regional brain strain while in some conditions, increasing the peak strain. Conclusions The presence of rugby headgear may be able to reduce the severity of head impact exposure during rugby. However, to understand how these findings relate to brain strain mitigation in the field, further investigation into the relationship between the impact conditions in this study and those encountered during actual gameplay is necessary.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of soft-shelled rugby headgear to lower regional brain strain metrics during standard drop tests

Stitt,

Kabaliuk,

Alexander

et al. 2023

Preprint

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show abstract

“…Attempts have also been made to develop more biofidelic headforms [192,193]. Neckforms [145,153,167,170,179,222,223,239,[246][247][248][249], including biofidelic ones [95,143,146,156,218,238,[250][251][252][253][254], are sometimes attached to headforms to achieve more realistic post-impact behaviour.…”

Section: Helmet Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanical metamaterials for sports helmets: structural mechanics, design optimisation, and performance

Haid,

Foster,

Hart

et al. 2023

Smart Mater. Struct.

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Sports concussions are a public health concern. Improving helmet performance to reduce concussion risk is a key part of the research and development community response. Head impacts with compliant surfaces that cause long duration moderate or high linear and rotational accelerations are associated with a high rate of clinical diagnoses of concussion. As engineered structures with unusual combinations of properties, mechanical metamaterials are being applied to sports helmets, with the goal of improving impact performance and reducing brain injury risk. Replacing established helmet material (i.e., foam) selection with a metamaterials design approach (structuring material to obtain desired properties) allows development of near optimal properties. Objective functions based on up to date understanding of concussion could be applied to topology optimisation regimes, when designing mechanical metamaterials for helmets. Such regimes balance computational efficiency with predictive accuracy, both of which could be improved under high strains and strain rates to allow helmet modifications as knowledge of concussion develops. Researchers could also share mechanical metamaterial data, topologies and computational models in open, homogenised repositories, to improve the efficiency of their development.

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“…The headform is available in three sizes and consists of a urethane covering that is moulded to a headform [22,108,110]. It is used in all NOCSAE helmet standards [149][150][151][152][153][154][155] and commonly used in research [39,103,118,[156][157][158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165].…”

Section: Anthropomorphic Test Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The HIII neckform is commonly used [112,[131][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140]144], however, its bending stiffness properties are only representative in anterior-posterior direction [22]. Alternative neck surrogates that overcome the limitation of directional sensitivity, such as the unbiased neckform, have been used increasingly in published research [22,32,34,39,104,120,125,143,162,163].…”

Section: Anthropomorphic Test Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impacting system (15.5 kg) with a convex polyurethane impactor head impacts the helmeted headform at 6.0 m/s in six different locations [150,175]. Modifications to this standard test setup are seen in published literature where reported impact velocities range from 2.0 m/s [112] to above 9.0 m/s [92,116,119,122,162,208]. The impactor shape [208] or stiffness [33,119,168,210] are commonly modified, and can be equipped with protective equipment that might impact the head, such as shoulder or elbow pads [32,122,144].…”

Section: Horizontal Impactormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards concussion prevention in ice hockey: mechanical metamaterial liners and helmet assessment

Haid

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Ice hockey has one of the highest concussion rates in sport. During player-to-player collisions, the most common concussive scenario, helmets have been shown to offer limited protection. Helmet testing that is representative of the broad range of potential head impacts requires extensive specialist equipment, while certification standards are currently not assessing the impact scenario that most commonly causes concussions in ice hockey. Consequently, helmets protect well in the scenario they are certified and designed for – falls onto stiff surfaces – but provide limited protection during other commonly occurring impacts, especially impacts with more compliant bodies. Due to the wide range of injurious head impacts in ice hockey, it is challenging to develop a helmet that protects well in all scenarios. The aim of this programme of research was to develop a simplified test method, capable of replicating common ice hockey head impacts. Then, to investigate the capabilities of a mechanical metamaterial to enhance protection during collisions without compromising protection during more severe head impacts. A novel test method, utilising laboratory equipment that is available to most researchers with an interest in impact protection, to replicate head impacts in ice hockey was developed and validated. It has been shown that a free-fall drop test method, with interchangeable impact surface orientation and compliance, can be used to create impact events that are representative of a range of common ice hockey head impacts. This newly developed test method can produce kinematic responses within less than 10% of key metrics obtained by current best practice methods to replicate ice hockey collisions and may facilitate widespread and more thorough testing in academic research and modifications to current test standard procedures. A series of investigations were conducted to assess the potential of a mechanical metamaterial, comprising bi-beam structures, with an adaptive response to specific impact scenarios. Testing and modelling of individual bi-beams, unit cells, and cellular structures of bi-beams suggest a cellular structure, comprising bi-beams, can be developed by arranging unit cells relative to each other between two stiff sandwich plates. It has been shown that controlling the direction of buckling and the associated contact situations, can cause an abrupt switch in stiffness (~155 – 180%) in axial direction. Applied as a liner in an ice hockey helmet, this could achieve enhanced protection against an additional cause of injury – collisions – without compromising the performance in the scenario the helmets are currently designed for – falls. Dimensional scalability facilitates a wide range of possible designs and fields of application. This programme of research contributes to the body of knowledge of head impact testing and helmet technologies to better protect players. Findings could help in developing better helmets that protect players against a wider range of head impacts which in turn would reduce concussions and make participation safer.

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Comparison of Ice Hockey Goaltender Helmets for Concussion Type Impacts

Cited by 16 publications

References 50 publications

Potential of soft-shelled rugby headgear to lower regional brain strain metrics during standard drop tests

Potential of soft-shelled rugby headgear to lower regional brain strain metrics during standard drop tests

Mechanical metamaterials for sports helmets: structural mechanics, design optimisation, and performance

Towards concussion prevention in ice hockey: mechanical metamaterial liners and helmet assessment

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