When to Pull the Trigger: Conceptual Considerations for Approximating Head Acceleration Events Using Instrumented Mouthguards

James Tooby, Kevin Till, Andrew J. Gardner, Keith Stokes, Gregory Tierney, Dan Weaving, Steven Rowson, Mazdak Ghajari, Carolyn A. Emery, Melanie D. Bussey, Ben Jones

Sports Medicine, 2024

Abstract

Head acceleration events (HAEs) are acceleration responses of the head following external short-duration collisions. The potential risk of brain injury from a single high-magnitude HAE or repeated occurrences makes them a significant concern in sport. Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) can approximate HAEs. The distinction between sensor acceleration events, the iMG datum for approximating HAEs and HAEs themselves, which have been defined as the in vivo event, is made to highlight limitations of approximating HAEs using iMGs. This article explores the technical limitations of iMGs that constrain the approximation of HAEs and discusses important conceptual considerations for stakeholders interpreting iMG data. The approximation of HAEs by sensor acceleration events is constrained by false positives and false negatives. False positives occur when a sensor acceleration event is recorded despite no (in vivo) HAE occurring, while false negatives occur when a sensor acceleration event is not recorded after an (in vivo) HAE has occurred. Various mechanisms contribute to false positives and false negatives. Video verification and post-processing algorithms offer effective means for…

Cite as (BibTeX)

@article{tooby-2024-when-to-pull-the,
  title={When to Pull the Trigger: Conceptual Considerations for Approximating Head Acceleration Events Using Instrumented Mouthguards},
  author={James Tooby and Kevin Till and Andrew J. Gardner and Keith Stokes and Gregory Tierney and Dan Weaving and Steven Rowson and Mazdak Ghajari and Carolyn A. Emery and Melanie D. Bussey and Ben Jones},
  journal={Sports Medicine},
  year={2024},
  doi={10.1007/s40279-024-02012-5}
}