HEAD Lab · Imperial College London
Understanding how mechanical loading injures the brain, and how to prevent it.
The brain experiences mechanical loading during road traffic and sports collisions, falls, some diseases, and surgical interventions. We work across computational modelling, impact testing, protective design, sensing, and machine learning to understand the load-injury relationship and use it to predict and prevent brain injury.
Research
How does mechanical loading injure the brain?
How can we use this understanding to predict and prevent brain injuries?
Computation
Brain Modelling
High-fidelity computational models of brain biomechanics, used to predict the effects of mechanical loading on brain tissue.
Sensing
Brain Exposure Monitoring
Technologies for estimating mechanical forces applied to the head and brain in sport, road traffic, and falls.
Protection
Testing Protection Systems
Helmet test methods that reflect real-world impacts and predict risk of different brain injury types.
Impact
Read more- 80,000+
- Views of the HIPER public cycle-helmet rating in its first two months.
- EN17950
- We helped to develop a new European standard of headforms, the first of its kind in the world for measuring biofidelic head rotation.
- 3 nations
- Our e-scooter head-injury research is cited in road-safety policy in Norway, Sweden, and the UK.
- World Rugby
- Our brain-biomechanics modelling has informed return-to-play guidelines.
Funders
Our work is made possible by funding and support from partners across industry, research councils and charities.
- Autoliv Research
- EPSRC
- Imperial College London
- Innovate UK
- Mips
- MRC
- Road Safety Trust
- Royal Academy of Engineering
- Royal British Legion Centre for Injury Studies
- Royal Society
- Sony Depth Sensing
- Sports and Wellbeing Analytics
- TBI-REPORTER
- Transport Research Laboratory
- Wellcome Trust
News
Latest from the lab.
Help us design trace*: participants needed
We're recruiting coaches, medics and players in rugby, boxing and other contact sports to help design trace*, our pitch-side brain-health decision-support tool.
HEAD Lab to co-lead new national BRAIN-SAFE hub with Brain Sciences
Imperial is to lead BRAIN-SAFE, a new national hub developing data-driven technologies to predict, prevent and manage traumatic brain injury in sport, transport and defence — co-led by Mazdak Ghajari and Professor David Sharp.
Collapsible bicycle helmets provide less protection, on average, than conventional designs
The first study to compare the two helmet types found collapsible helmets carry a higher average predicted injury risk and more weight than conventional helmets, in work led by Will Dawber and published in Accident Analysis & Prevention.
From LinkedIn