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The NFL as of late has been making a concerted effort to cut down on helmet-to-helmet collisions, handing out heavy fines and game suspensions to the league's worst offenders. That should certainly help avoid head and neck injuries, but the NFL isn't the only one looking out for its players. Intel on Thursday announced it is collaborating with industry experts to design new football helmets that would reduce the risk of short- and long-term injuries.
There's a ton of science involved here. Intel said it's been tapping into supercomputers and workstations to simulate collisions to study the impact on the brain. Collaborative partners include Riddel (helmet and protective equipment designer) and researchers from the Thayer School of Engineering, Wayne State University, University of Northern Colorado, and Texas State University-San Marcos.
"Computer simulations have been instrumental in designing improved brain injury criteria," said Dr. Igor Szcyrba with the University of Northern Colorado. "In the near future, they can also help doctors diagnose actual brain injuries."
Simulated collisions also include actual data from on-field impacts courtesy of Riddel's cleverly named Head Impact Telemetry System (HITS - get it?), a proprietary in-helmet technology that provides real-time data.
Comments are closed on this article
mesiah
November 16, 2010 at 10:27pm
It doesn't matter how safe a helmet is if the NFL doesn't use it. The model of helmet in use right now by the NFL isn't designed for maximum protection. It is a light weight helmet designed for speed. There are much safer helmets on the market, even safer helmets made by the NFLs partner Ridell. Unfortunately, if you want to use one of those helmets you have to pay for it out of your pocket and it can not have any company logos on it if it isn't a Ridell helmet. If the NFL was that interested in safety they would switch to a better helmet.
