Combat Helmet Sensor Detects Potential Brain Injury

An innovative concussion sensor intended for soldier's helmets features advanced reporting capabilities that could assist medical teams rapidly identify traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims.

The Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic System (HEADS) is a small, lightweight sensor that can be secured inside virtually any combat helmet. Although imperceptible to the wearer, it is designed to continuously collect critical, potentially lifesaving data, including impact direction, magnitude, duration, blast pressures, angular and linear accelerations, and the exact times of single or multiple blast events. The information is then securely stored until it can be quickly downloaded and analyzed by medical teams, using a simple universal serial bus (USB) or wireless connection.

Compatible with most helmets, the HEADS sensor is unobtrusive and does not interfere with additional helmet-mounted equipment soldiers may need, such as goggles and other sensors. If a soldier is exposed to a blast, possibly sustaining a concussion, not only will the HEADS trigger a visual light emitting diode (LED) display at the time of the event, but once the soldier enters a specified area, such as forward operating base or dining facility, a series of strategically placed antennae will scan all available HEADS units and send data to a central computer, identifying any soldiers who may have sustained a blast-related TBI. The HEAD system is a product of BAE Systems (Farnborough, United Kingdom). Since 2008, nearly 7,000 HEADS units have been fielded to the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.

"Diagnosing mild to moderate combat-related TBIs can be challenging. For example, following an explosion from a roadside bomb, soldiers will sometimes continue with their mission, unaware that the concussion from the blast may have lingering effects,” said Joe Coltman, vice president of BAE Systems' personnel protection systems business. "With the Generation II HEADS sensor, even if the injury isn't obvious, the sensor is equipped with a programmable color LED light that can be set to activate during a blast event, providing immediate notification of a possible combat-related TBI which should be checked out by medical personnel.”

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