EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Experts at Michigan State University believe a patch could be the answer to diagnosing a concussion the second contact comes.
“It’s basically a self-powered censor that we are trying to use to detect concussions,” said MSU professor and expert in electrical and computer engineering, Nelson Sepulveda.
Sepulveda says his team first got the idea for the project after getting an up-close look at the intensity of college football.
“I had a colleague and a friend that had good seats and we sat there and I got to experience for the first time in my life how hard these guys hit each other,” continued Sepulveda. “We always thought it was going to be the impact, the magnitude of the impact what actually causes the damage but it’s really more it is more along the lines of the small vibrations that come with the whiplash.”
Others on the team like Henry Dsouza say the data they found when it comes to whiplash and concussions surprised him.
“When I performed my first test that was the most shocking thing for me,” said Dsouza. “I did not expect that given impact being equal of that of a baseball swing and the head would experience so much so that it would flex all the way back and forth.”
The tech is not ready to be used just yet, but the plan is that one day this tool of information will help provide real-time information to coaches that a player needs to be checked out.
“We would hope to see this being included in athletes so that we could get a real-time signal right after the impact that could be sent to the coach and basically tell the coach it’s time to sit that athlete down,” concluded Sepulveda.
