Development of a Pnt-football Helmet to Reduce Neck Loads and Head Injury Metrics in Football

INTRODUCTION Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) in football are rare but catastrophic events. The SCI incidence rate in the United States for high school, college, and professional football has been estimated as 0.52, 1.55, and 14 per 100,000 participants, respectively [1]. These injuries are very significant given the enormous economic and societal costs and the vastly diminished quality of life of the injured person. The large majority of these SCIs are a result of tackling, particularly when the head is down, resulting in head-first impacts. These impacts can result in high compressive axial loads being transferred into the cervical spine and can lead to potential vertebral fracture and contusion, or other injury to the spinal cord. In order to address such injuries, our group is developing a helmet [2] to mitigate the potential for spinal and spinal cord injuries, as well as minimize head injury risk, in head-first impacts. In particular, a prototype designed and intended specifically for the football market has recently been developed and dubbed the PNT-Football.