When it comes to sport, there is always a risk of someone getting injured – unless you are playing chess, of course. Competitive sports have evolved over time in terms of safety and medical care, but you cannot fully eliminate injuries to the athletes. Reebok-CCM Hockey and startup MC10 have come together to work on a new skullcap which ought to be worn under a helmet, and this skullcap integrates a wearable sports impact indicator that relies on sensors to detect the severity of a blow. It was specially designed to inform athletes as to whether they are in need of medical treatment or rest before resuming play.
I would assume that this information will also be fed back to the team’s medical doctor on site during a game, so that the player who wants to play through the pain barrier will need not endanger his or her life needlessly, as the doctor will most probably be able to make the better informed call. Expect to see this new high tech skullcap make its way into consumer class products from next year onwards if all things go well.
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