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How will the NFL use mouthguard sensors to measure head impact?

With an announcement that eight research universities will cooperate in studying head injuries in the NFL, we take a look at the unique methods they will use

Jeffrey May
Jeffrey MayJeff_DiarioAS
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With an announcement that eight research universities will cooperate in studying head injuries in the NFL, we take a look at the unique methods they will use
Icon SportswireGetty

The National Football League has expanded its partnership with top research universities to study head impacts to eight institutions.

The Brain Trust

  1. The University of Alabama
  2. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  3. The University of Washington
  4. University of Wisconsin
  5. The University of Florida
  6. The University of Georgia
  7. The University of Pittsburgh
  8. Vanderbilt University

The eight universities will be investigating the impact of on-field head injuries in the NFL with an ultimate goal of reducing injuries in the game. Various elements are being considered, including rule changes at both the professional and collegiate level, which could include the development of position-specific helmets.

Football players at all eight research universities are offered the opportunity to voluntarily opt-in to the study. Those who do will be fitted with mouthguards instrumented with sensors that can provide a substantial amount of data about what the human head experiences during an on-field impact.

The aim of the study is to understand and reduce concussions in football, and head impacts more generally. Originally commissioned in 2021 with only four universities taking part, today’s expansion of the program to eight will substantially increase the amount of data collected, which is the life-blood of any research.

The unique mouthguards

In order to carry out the research, it will be necessary to custom-fit mouthguards for the players which can gather information about the frequency and severity of impacts in both games and practices. Identical data will be collected at four NFL clubs.

Align Technology, designers of the Invisalign system and iTero intraoral scanners, have partnered with the NFL to create these mouthguards.

Dr. James Clugston, Team Physician at University of Florida, says, “We are excited about the opportunity to partner with the NFL to assist them in collecting more data to better understand on-field head impacts. The research will continue to help make the game of football safer and will guide us to develop best practices for equipment design, rules of competition and practice drills.”

Ron Courson, Executive Associate Athletic Director, Sports Medicine, at the University of Georgia concurs. “It is a privilege to partner with the NFL on the biosensor mouthguard study. This novel study will provide new and important information on concussions in sport as we continue to work together to make the game of football safer for players in all settings.”

Dr. Douglas Terry, Neuropsychologist and Co-Director, Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center continues the theme. “Having athletes wear mouthguards with sensors embedded into them will help us understand the specifics of head impacts and the force that may be transmitted to the brain. We’ll be able to examine what players/positions get the most hits, the amount of force sustained, the direction of that force, and the types of plays that lead to these impacts.”

The mouthguard sensor program launched in 2019 as part of the NFL’s $60 million commitment to promote health and safety initiatives.