Concussion guinea pigs: Raiders sign on to test mouthguard technology

Post by **greeneyed** » March 29, 2024, 7:02 am

Concussion guinea pigs: Raiders sign on to test mouthguard technology

The Canberra Raiders will test mouthguards that have sensors that capture the frequency and intensity of head impacts as part of a deal between the NRL and HitIQ for the 2024 season announced on Thursday.

"The NRL's purchased our technology on behalf of the Canberra Raiders," HitIQ chief commercial officer Damien Hawes said."Typically on game day they've got anywhere from 13-15 players wearing our mouthguards and they're collecting data at training as well.

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

NRL adopt HitIQ mouthguard technology for 2024 season: https://www.investi.com.au/api/announce ... 77-021.pdf

How the mouth guards work: https://www.hitiq.com/

Billy Walker · Post by **Billy Walker** » March 29, 2024, 7:52 am

Any risk this increases the likelihood our players might have to go for a HIA?

Post by **greeneyed** » March 29, 2024, 7:56 am

No, because the data is downloaded at half time and full time. The technology has been tested for in game use in union but it’s not yet proved reliable for real time detection.

Billy Walker · Post by **Billy Walker** » March 29, 2024, 8:00 am

greeneyed wrote: ↑March 29, 2024, 7:56 am No, because the data is downloaded at half time and full time. The technology has been tested for in game use in union but it’s not yet proved reliable for real time detection.

Is that because the tackles aren’t hard enough in union?

Thats good news there is no risk of disadvantage and good on the raiders for taking part in the trial.

Rick · Post by **Rick** » March 29, 2024, 8:32 am

This just brings up the disappointment that nothing ever eventuated from the ball technology to detect forward passes.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finchy · Post by **Finchy** » March 29, 2024, 8:42 am

Rick wrote: ↑March 29, 2024, 8:32 am This just brings up the disappointment that nothing ever eventuated from the ball technology to detect forward passes.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I suspect a high a percentage of passes were detected as going forward (even off momentum) and the game realised it was unworkable and the game unplayable. Just a theory.

BadnMean · Post by **BadnMean** » March 29, 2024, 8:54 am

Finchy wrote: ↑March 29, 2024, 8:42 am
Rick wrote: ↑March 29, 2024, 8:32 am This just brings up the disappointment that nothing ever eventuated from the ball technology to detect forward passes.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I suspect a high a percentage of passes were detected as going forward (even off momentum) and the game realised it was unworkable and the game unplayable. Just a theory.

Almost every pass thrown when a player is moving forward will also travel forward, the physics is inescapable. I've posted some videos on it a few times. The trick would be is the microchip sensitive/fast enough to separate the vector it is already on and identify the new vector from the hands in the instant before it begins to drift forward again due to momentum. It would need to be WAY faster and more precise than say crickets Hawkeye which needs a metre or two for the cameras/sensors to gauge things.

I'm not sure the GPS or whatever the sensor would be linked to can be that precise- a metre or two is great for most needs. But not finely tuned enough for RL.

Dr Zaius · Post by **Dr Zaius** » March 29, 2024, 1:02 pm

I recently listened to a podcast on this. They were trailled at the Rugby World Cup. More a tool in determining time off in the aftermath at the moment, but they are trialling real time data. Problem is the connection is Bluetooth, so not reliable except at half and full time. The idea is though that players will be identified for an HIA assessment real time by a side line official.

New high tech mouthguards: How they work and why? https://pca.st/episode/27893c08-5686-49 ... 19408fa977

LimeGreenMachine · Post by **LimeGreenMachine** » March 29, 2024, 2:58 pm

Everyone is an individual.
What can cause a concussion in one person may not in another.
How do they set a base line if there ever go forward with this?
HIA can only be determined by individual assessment

gangrenous · Post by **gangrenous** » March 29, 2024, 3:34 pm

That’s not how the tech would (or at least should) be used LGM.

Think instead that a threshold could be set that is used as an alert to do an HIA for example. You may choose to test in cases where you would otherwise have been oblivious. You don’t need to use the measurements to define the concussion in isolation.

More information is rarely a bad thing.