SBIR-STTR Award

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired neurological disorder that can cause long-lasting disability with limited treatment options. Therefore preventative strategies must be emphasized in high-risk activities to reduce the individual and societal burden of this pervasive injury. Bicycle activities account for 20 percent of all sports-related TBI, with 42,000 annual injuries in the U.S.. In an effort to alleviate the incidence and severity of these head injuries, helmet usage is now customary, and in some States mandatory. However, contemporary bicycle helmets are not designed to mitigate rotational head acceleration, which is a clear physical mechanism of TBI. A novel helmet using High Impact Velocity Engineering (HIVE) technology is therefore proposed that integrates recent advances in material science to provide superior energy absorption in a lightweight and cost-effective design. A key innovation of the HIVE helmet is that its structural properties behave similar to a torsional spring and damper, and thus enable the HIVE helmet to attenuate severe angular head accelerations. The specific aim of this study is to determine whether the HIVE helmet can significantly reduce the risk of TBI compared to standard helmets. Mechanical testing of HIVE helmets and standard helmets will be performed with an oblique helmet testing rig that can measure linear and angular acceleration during vertical and oblique impacts. The resulting kinematic data will be input into an established computational model that predicts the risk of TBI. Mechanical and computational results of the two helmets groups will be statistically compared. If successful, the HIVE helmet will offer advanced head protection for bicyclists, and potentially reduce the incidence of bicycle-related TBI.

Public Health Relevance:
There are 42,000 bicycle-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI) that occur annually in the U.S. with an associated societal cost of $2.5 billion. Although bicycle helmets should offer a clear preventative strategy to reduce bicycle- related TBI, contemporary bicycle helmets are not engineered to atenuate rotational head acceleration, a primary physical mechanism of TBI. A helmet impact mitigation technology is proposed that absorbs rotational energy, and therefore will potentially reduce the high incidence of bicycle-related TBI.

Thesaurus Terms:
Acceleration;Accounting;Achievement;Achievement Attainment;Acquired Brain Injury;Adopted;Al Element;Aluminum;Armed Forces Personnel;Attenuated;Bicycling;Biomechanics;Brain Injuries;Brain Trauma;Computer Models;Computer Simulation;Computer Based Simulation;Computerized Models;Computing Methodologies;Craniocerebral Injuries;Craniocerebral Trauma;Data;Dysfunction;Engineering;Environmental Air Flow;Europe;Functional Disorder;Generations;Head;Head Injuries;Head Trauma;Helmet;Hospitalization;Incidence;Individual;Industry;Injury;Loinc Axis 2 Property;Laws;Marketing;Mathematical Model Simulation;Mathematical Models And Simulations;Measures;Mechanics;Military;Military Personnel;Nervous System Diseases;Neurologic;Neurologic Disorders;Neurological;Neurological Disorders;Performance;Phase;Physiopathology;Prevention;Production;Property;Research;Research Design;Risk;Sttr;Science;Severities;Small Business Technology Transfer Research;Sports;Study Type;Technology;Testing;Timeline;Traumatic Brain Injury;Traumatic Encephalopathy;Ventilation;Absorption;Base;Bicycle Safety;Biomechanical;Brain Damage;Brain Lesion (From Injury);Computational Methodology;Computational Methods;Computational Modeling;Computational Models;Computational Simulation;Computer Based Models;Computer Methods;Computerized Modeling;Computerized Simulation;Cost;Cost Effective;Cost-Effective;Design;Designing;Disability;High Risk;In Silico;Innovate;Innovation;Innovative;Kinematics;Mechanical;Nervous System Disorder;Neurological Disease;Novel;Operation;Pathophysiology;Prevent;Preventing;Prototype;Scale Up;Simulation;Study Design;Traumatic Brain Damage;Virtual Simulation

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired neurological disorder that can cause long-lasting disability with limited treatment options. Therefore, preventative strategies must be emphasized in high-risk activities to reduce the individual and societal burden of this pervasive injury. Bicycle activities account for 20% of all sports-related TBI, with 42,000 annual injuries in the US. In an effort to alleviate the incidence and severity of these head injuries, helmet usage is now recommended, and in some states mandatory. However, contemporary bicycle helmets are not designed to mitigate rotational head acceleration, which is a clear physical mechanism of TBI. A novel helmet using High Impact Velocity Engineering (HIVE) technology is therefore proposed that combines recent advances in material science with an innovative suspension technique to provide superior energy absorption in a lightweight and cost-effective design. A key innovation of the HIVE helmet is that its structural properties behave similar to a torsional spring and damper, and thus enable the HIVE helmet to attenuate severe rotational head accelerations. The STTR Phase I delivered conclusive evidence on the feasibility of HIVE technology. HIVE prototype helmets yielded up to 46% reduction in rotational head acceleration and up to 44% reduction in predicted TBI risk compared to standard bicycle helmets. The aim of this STTR Phase II research and development strategy is to formally optimize the performance of HIVE technology by combining computational modeling and physical validation. The optimized HIVE technology will be translated into a commercially viable helmet design. The resulting HIVE helmets will be evaluated in vertical and oblique impacts to quantify performance improvements compared to standard helmets. If successful, the final HIVE helmet design can readily be commercialized to offer advanced head protection for bicyclists and to reduce the incidence and severity of bicycle-related TBI.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
There are 42,000 bicycle-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI) that occur annually in the U.S. with an associated societal cost of $2.3 billion per year. Althoug bicycle helmets should offer a clear preventative strategy to reduce bicycle-related TBI, contemporary bicycle helmets are not engineered to attenuate rotational head acceleration, a primary physical mechanism of TBI. A helmet impact mitigation technology is proposed that absorbs rotational energy, and therefore will potentially reduce the high incidence of bicycle-related TBI.

Project Terms:
absorption; Acceleration; Accident and Emergency department; Accounting; Address; Adoption; Aluminum; Attenuated; base; bicycle injury; Bicycling; Brain Injuries; Child; Computer Simulation; consumer product; cost; cost effective; Craniocerebral Trauma; design; Diagnosis; disability; efficacy testing; Employment; Engineering; Ensure; Europe; Funding; Generations; Goals; Gold; Head; Helmet; high risk; improved; Incidence; Individual; Industry; Injury; injury prevention; innovation; Laws; Mandatory Testing; Marketing; Military Personnel; nervous system disorder; novel; Performance; Phase; prevent; Prevention; Production; Property; prototype; public health relevance; Relative (related person); Research; research and development; Risk; Risk Factors; Safety; Science; Severities; Small Business Technology Transfer Research; Sports; Suspension substance; Suspensions; System; Techniques; Technology; Testing; Translating; Translations; Traumatic Brain Injury; Validation; Vent; Vision; Visit