One of the hot-button topics in sports today is centered on concussion prevention and what can be done to reduce concussions for players in any league. So far, many rules and regulations have been put into effect, such as new helmets with extra padding, new rules about where you can legally hit players without being flagged, etc., all relating to increasing player safety in some very dangerous sports, such as football and hockey.
Mark Dillon, an Irish inventor, has recently come up with the next great improvement to preventing concussions in his project at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He created a device called “Mamori,” which appropriately means “protect” in Japanese. Based on the descriptions of what this new invention can do, it certainly lives up to its name. Mamori is “a mouthguard with built-in sensors that can tell someone on the sidelines when a player has received a serious – yet invisible – injury,” says Devin Coldeway, of NBC News.
This new technology has sensors, along with an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer, which together can help observe movement any force taken on by players during actual games and practices. If the force absorbed by a player is large enough, that information can be received with the corresponding Mamori app on a computer instantaneously. This will allow for trainers to provide treatment quicker to the injured player, because they were able to recognize the concussion at an earlier period of time.
One of the biggest problems with concussions is that they aren’t easily detectable until after the game and continuous tests, which is very bad for concussed players, because the quicker a concussion is noticed, the better off the player. This new invention will help improve detection time, and that is one of its most attractive qualities.
Dillon was inspired to make this creation because of the concussion problem with Gaelic football in Ireland, along with the increasing problem of players playing with concussions and getting hit again. Because concussions are so easily undetectable, sometimes players can just shake it off as a headache and not think anything about it; if they get hit again though, the consequences can be much more dire. So many players have been paralyzed, brain damaged, or worse from playing with concussions that they didn’t even know they had; the numbers alone go to show why something like Mamori is definitely necessary. Mamori will help prevent players from playing with undetected concussion as well because its sensors can register motion of players, and any irregularities are registered and sent to the computer. If a player is moving slower than usual, it will be noticed and can be checked out by the athletic trainers, further preventing that player from the possibility of a more serious injury.
This new gadget is definitely something that all athletes should be required to use, as it will increase safety for players of all age levels and can calm the worries of all those sports fans and parents. Dillon’s wish is: “I would love to see this product make a big impact on the lives of athletes and sports fans around the world.”
Not only is Mamori hoping to be a revolutionary new creation for sports, but it may also give Dillon some extra cash, as it has been nominated as a finalist for the James Dyson Award, where the winner will win $45,000 and money for their school.
While Mamori is certainly a technological step in the right direction to concussion prevention and reduction, it is not the end all be all for this issue by any means. It may help in a lot of ways, such as increasing detection time, easing the ability to detect concussions, etc, but it still won’t prevent a player from receiving a concussion. Mamori is an invention with a lot of potential and will hopefully be a huge help to trainers for ensuring player safety in the near future.