Force Impact Technologies LLC has developed the FITGuard, a mouthguard that is designed to aid in concussion detection for athletes. Anthony Gonzales, a former rugby player, and Bob Merriman created the mouthguard to help reduce the number of athletes who return to play too early and risk worsening their injury. The FITGuard is engineered to indicate when a blow to the head is serious enough to warrant further attention, according to a Huffington Post news report.
The FITGuard has a green LED strip on the front that turns blue when it detects a medium force impact and red when there is an above 50% chance the athlete has suffered a concussion. The athlete can then use an app to download a data log showing why the guard is displaying a given color, and the data will also be uploaded to a central database to help the FIT team improve the device, as indicated on the Huffington Post news report.
Gonzales explains, “[The FITGuard] will allow parents, coaches and leagues to follow their normal concussion protocol while having some quantitative data to support their conclusion. We want to provide them with the tools to make informed decisions about the safety of athletes and reduce the traumatic effects of brain injury.”
The Huffington Post news report notes that the company has so far won several thousand dollars in grant funding and has begun software development. Presently, several prototypes have been produced. If the FITGuard works as planned, the mouthguard could be a big step forward in the proper treatment and diagnosis of head injuries, which will help protect athletes.
Though the product has not been brought to market yet, Gonzales has high hopes for the product, stating, “Our device, made right here in the good old U.S.A., is the next step in sports evolution.”
Source: Huffington Post