Wearable Device For Athletes Measures The Severity Of Head Injuries

Here in the States, the football season is beginning beneath the shadow of the recent NFL concussions lawsuit. Two days ago, the NFL website reported that they agreed to settle the lawsuit for $765 million dollars. This money will be spread amongst 18,000 retired players, and also be used to fund more research about long-term damage caused by brain and head injuries.

This new device (by Reebok), which measures the severity of these types of injuries, comes at a perfect time since awareness about head injuries is at an all time high. Although participation in youth football is on a steady decline, partly because of fear over this, brain injuries can occur in a lot more sports than just football.

I’ve fallen off my bike and hit my head many times, and I could have probably used one of these devices also. It’s not just for serious athletes, but it’s for anyone who is active outside where head injuries could occur.

It’s called CheckLight, and according to the website, “its sensors continuously measure impacts the athlete experiences and provides coaches, athletic trainers, parents and athletes with a simple visual display of impact severity.” The thing about head injuries that can be so scary is that you might feel fine soon after the injury itself, which means you can be misled into thinking nothing is wrong. However, in days, week or months later, the symptoms of a serious injury can begin to manifest. The key is early detection, and that is what this device aims to provide.

The indicator light glows green if the hit to the head was non-threatening. It glows yellow if it was a moderate impact, and it glows red if it’s time to get to a doctor. It is a battery-powered device that is recharged via USB. You can purchase it here on the Reebok website. It will soon be available in a headband version also, which seems a lot better than this big hat thing.