Scientists at PARC, a research and development company owned by Xerox, are busy developing a mouthguard that could help athletes understand their physiology during exercise and better inform their training.
A lot can be learned from blood. Lactate, for example, is normally measured in blood, and can indicate exercise intensity. Lactate, which is generated by muscles, builds up as intensity increases. When the lactate level crosses a threshold at which the body can no longer sufficiently eliminate it, failure and fatigue are close. But walking to the sideline to have drops of blood tested and analyzed is usually not an option for athletes.
However, there is a high correlation between the amount of lactate in blood and in saliva. PARC’s idea was to create a mouthguard with the ability to measure saliva, resulting in an understanding of physiological conditions without the invasive nature of blood tests. To realize that, PARC sought help from NextFlex and the University of California, San Diego.
“They’ve done this development work previously and showed they could effectively measure saliva lactate concentrations,” said Scott Miller, the Director of Strategic Program for NextFlex. “But there were a whole bunch of different problems that needed to be filled.”
NextFlex, which receives funding from the federal government, is a manufacturer focused on flexible hybrid electronics. Its role in the project was to enhance the manufacturability and usability of the device.
“The idea was add in a rechargeable battery, wireless charging, improve the wireless communication, improve the form factor, and make it so it can really be integrated into a mouthguard in a way that looks and acts like any standard mouthguard,” Miller said.
UC San Diego provided a sensor development lab. “They actually developed the underlying lactate and glucose sensors that were used,” Miller explained. “PARC then figured out how to print into these devices.”
The result was a prototype electronic plastic foil sensor that fits inside a regular mouthguard. The sensor can produce real-time data with a usable life of roughly 18 hours. The device recently completed a period of performance testing under NextFlex funding, and the next step is working out the specific use cases for sports like football, lacrosse, and boxing.
“There are a lot of applications for athletic training,” Miller said. “For example, if you want to measure hydration state, to be able to prevent dehydration or to prevent over-hydration which can be dangerous as well.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Smart mouthguardd have previously been developed to monitor head impacts. HitIQ, for example, developed the Nexus A9, which uses motion sensors to detect linear and rotational accelerations from hits. Prevent Biometrics makes a similar mouthguard that also measures impacts using accelerometers.