It’s too bad we’re not woodpeckers or rams, animals who can repeatedly bash their heads against hard surfaces with nary a problem. That’s because they have very dense skulls, “especially in that rounded rear area known as the braincase, where they are built like armored cars,” according to a story by Simon Winchester in today’s Science Times. (Particularly vital, their braincases are also unusually smooth inside.)
Unfortunately, human skulls are more delicate. And research finds that those who continually get concussions – like football or soccer players – put themselves at great risk not just after the game, but possibly for their whole lives. Studies have revealed that many of those who'd been hit in the head decades ago now “had slightly less volume in the hippocampus, a brain area associated with memory and learning, than those who hadn't been concussed,” Gretchen Reynolds noted, also in a story in NYT.
But now a Seattle-based company, X2IMPACT, has entered into an agreement with the NFL to supply the league with its concussion management system software for use this season. It won’t prevent the concussions, but it will allow teams to assess players’ condition on the sidelines, with data on body stability, short- and long-term memory, motor skills, balance and other relevant medical information – according to a story by Mark Burns.
Right now, 16 NFL teams use the software.
Image via Shutterstock
The data garnered from the assessment will help team personnel in determining whether or not a player is capable of returning to the field following a big hit, Burns reported.
X2IMPACT also manufactures mouthpieces that can record impact felt inside the head and relay data to teams’ sidelines; however, this particular agreement only involves the CMS software.
“Working with the NFL allowed us to create an application specifically tailored to the League’s needs,” said Rich Able, cofounder of X2IMPACT. “The resulting app embodies the NFL’s specific medical protocols and is scalable to conform to the League’s data standards now and in the future.”
Edited by
Braden Becker
