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Anna Behrman

Tatum

STEM

November 20, 2019

Concussion Helmet Essay

The number of concussions in the last couple of years has increased drastically.

Concussions are very dangerous and can lead to permanent brain damage. Concussions are hard

to diagnose because they are not visible and therefore make matters more complicated.

According to Tom Foster (2012), doctors used to think that a concussion was when the grey

matter of the brain became bruised. They have now found out it actually occurs deep in the brain

in an area called the white matter. A concussion puts strain on the nerve cells reducing their

connections to axons. The problem with helmets today is that they only protect from linear

acceleration when they need to be absorbing the rotational acceleration of the blow to the head.

Rotational acceleration is not directed at the brain’s center of gravity. In the past decade there

has been a race to engineer the safest, most reliable helmet which could protect against rotational

force. The helmet design I engineered did help to protect the brain but could not protect from a

concussion.

The helmet I designed does not protect well enough from rotational acceleration.

Rotational acceleration is a force that is not directed at the brain’s center of gravity. My design

did not get a concussion at 5G of force but did at 15G. The more force impacted onto the brain

was most likely rotational acceleration, not linear. Linear acceleration is “a straight-line force

that begins at the point of impact” (Foster 2012). This means linear concussions are easier to

protect the head against since it is more predictable. If an athlete were to get a concussion at 5g it
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would not do as much damage as a blow to the head at 15G. This could cause loss of

consciousness and neurological changes of the brain. When the head is hit with the rotational

force, it not only causes the brain to bounce around inside the skull, but it also causes the brain to

“twist…stretching and damaging the brain cells” (CDC 2019). When hit at an angle the helmet I

designed could not withstand the impact and resulted in a concussion.

The design process I used did not work enough towards increasing the amount of force

the helmet would absorb. To absorb the rotational acceleration, “the rigid outer shell of a helmet

does not work” (Blount 2012). I took this information into account and made the outside of the

helmet a thin layer surrounded by rolls of paper. The paper was rolled in order to give the helmet

some bounce. Although it did help in the absorption process, it did not absorb enough energy

because it was too elastic. It needed to be less rigid than plastic but not so elastic that it would

keep its shape after the impact. If it returns to its original shape, it did not dissipate the energy.

Blount argues that the design needs to be able to flex but also restore itself slowly. A specific

kind of padding could also help to increase the absorption. The padding needs to be designed

correctly though. It cannot just sit on the inside of the helmet. I used this information and

decided to put the padding in between the “head” and the paper rolls. This way the elasticity of

the paper would absorb the majority of the impact and the padding would be there to keep the G

levels below a dangerous level. This did not work though. It did very little to increase the time of

impact. An increased time of impact would have decreased the amount of force the head absorbs.

Even though my helmet design did not work at 15G of force, it did work at 5G and kept

the “head” from fracturing. This could be useful in low impact sports or used to decrease the

severity of a concussion, but not very effective for the heavy contact sports helmets are being

used for. If a football player or cyclist were to use my helmet design and hit the road or the
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ground, it is very likely that at the speed and force of impact they experienced, it would not

protect them from a concussion. They could still undergo serious repercussions involving

impaired motor function, memory, and learning.

In order to decrease the rotational acceleration and increase the time of impact and

absorption I would need to change the outside material of my design and alter the placement of

the padding on the inside. I could use a type of flexible, but still structured material such as

straws or a thicker type of paper. It would bend but also take longer to return to its shape,

causing the helmet to take in more of the “rotation in all directions”, which Foster believed is the

best way to reduce the surfacing of a concussion. Helmets need to be designed carefully as to

help protect athletes from brain damage caused by a hit or blow to the head. My helmet is

ineffective in this department.

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Citations

American Association of Neurological Surgeons. (n.d.). Sports-related Head Injury. Retrieved

from https://www.aans.org/en/Patients/Neurosurgical-Conditions-and-Treatments/Sports-

related-Head-Injury

Blount, T. (2012, December 18). Blount: A better football helmet. Retrieved from

https://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/8759901/dean-sicking-turns-attention-football-

nfl-racing-nascar

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, February 12). What Is a Concussion?

Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/basics/concussion_whatis.html

Foster, T. (2012, December 18). New Football Helmet Could Save the Sport. Retrieved from

https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-08/helmet-wars-and-new-helmet-could-

protect-us-all/

Mayo Clinic. (2019, March 29). Traumatic brain injury - Symptoms and causes. Retrieved from

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury/symptoms-

causes/syc-20378557