Hydrophilic Porous Materials as Helmet Padding Able to Prevent Traumatic Brain Injuries

TL;DR

This paper proposes using hydrophilic porous fluid-swollen materials as helmet padding to mitigate peak accelerations during impacts, potentially reducing traumatic brain injuries in contact sports.

Contribution

It introduces a novel padding material that can tune impact forces, addressing limitations of traditional helmet padding in reducing peak accelerations.

Findings

Hydrophilic porous materials can absorb impact energy effectively.

Fluid dynamics within the porous material can limit peak accelerations.

Potential for improved helmet safety in impact sports.

Abstract

The minimum possible value of the average deceleration of the head of a player engaged in an impact sport such as football or hockey, as a result of an impact of his/her helmet with a surface or another player, is inversely proportional to the helmet padding thickness. Since there are practical limits to its maximum thickness, it is difficult to significantly reduce the average acceleration. There is evidence, however, that the peak, rather than the average, acceleration is the most significant cause of brain injury. It is proposed here that brain injuries that occur as a result of an impact, could be reduced by using as padding a hydrophilic porous material swollen with fluid. The friction experienced by the fluid as it is squeezed out of the porous material in an impact can "tune" the acceleration of the skull so that it is never significantly higher than its average during the impact.