Wearable technology that helps measure and track head impact force in recreational activities and sports aims to assist research and support informed decisions on brain injury risks.
The startup company, HIT developed the technology. It is based at the Edinburgh Business School (EBS) Incubator at the Heriot-Watt University.
The device is made up of an impact sensor that can be worn across various sporting and activity applications. It is universally clipped onto any halo headband or helmet, detects G-Force, and records impact through a companion app. The device Makes use of a traffic light system to record data and acts as an early warning notification for the user regards the intensity of the impact force it recorded and highlights the required caution in continuous exercise.
Euan Bowen, a 28-year-old rugby player founded the company. He was inspired to develop the HIT Impact technology after his intimate friend was injured. Although brain injuries are rarely reported, Bowen saw an opportunity in the market for sports personnel to track brain health.
Bowen said: ‘’ While studying for my degree, a close friend was injured during a game which developed my curiosity on the impact of sub-concussive head knocks. There was little available technology that helps monitor head impact despite the intensity of the challenge in different sporting activities. I am a member of the rugby club in Edinburgh which provided me better orotundity to start researching and developing a project and work collaboratively with the team to develop an initial prototype.
“HIT Impact uses technology to monitor and identify the levels of user impact throughout a game in real-time. It functions by creating a baseline level of force the user sustains and tracks any impact throughout their playing time. Once the baseline is attained, the user is stored from playing to prevent more impacts. Then they will be assessed with the current concussion guidelines to ascertain the user’s fitness to return to play. Tracking the impacts will help us collect a lot of data anonymously to build a data bank of situational head impact to help more research and understand better traumatic brain injuries.
“High Impact sports are planning to increase their focus on concussion mitigation with Field (Football’s Influence on Lifelong Health and Dementia Risk) study recently discovering that retired professionals are three and half times likely to die of dementia than the general population.
“I secured a place in Edinburgh Business School Incubator at Heriot-Watt University which served as a good platform where I can validate my innovation and identify suitable markets. The steps provide access to important entrepreneurial training and business advice within an immersive environment with like-minded individuals. It can be a lonely experience developing your own company, but the incubator support can transform the journey from idea to market for an entrepreneur like me.”
The sensor comes with an app that has a 150m range and can record for many devices. It also promotes a ‘Team Play’ which records function for sport such as rugby and football.
During the pandemic, HIT has initiated plans for product development, afterwards, start its first Kickstarter campaign so that the company can start its production within two months.
Manager of the EBS Incubator, Kallum Russel said: “HIT Impact is an important technology that helps track and support the current efforts to enhance safety in sorts during a time when governing bodies across high impact sports continue to focus on reducing head trauma.
