Laboratory Assessment of a Headband-Mounted Sensor for Measurement of Head Impact Rotational Kinematics

Colin M Huber; Declan A Patton; Kathryn L Wofford; Susan S Margulies; D Kacy Cullen; Kristy B Arbogast

doi:10.1115/1.4048574

Laboratory Assessment of a Headband-Mounted Sensor for Measurement of Head Impact Rotational Kinematics

J Biomech Eng. 2021 Feb 1;143(2):024502. doi: 10.1115/1.4048574.

Authors

Colin M Huber¹, Declan A Patton², Kathryn L Wofford³, Susan S Margulies⁴, D Kacy Cullen⁵, Kristy B Arbogast⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146; Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP), 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146.
² Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP), 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, 3320 Smith Walk, 105 Hayden Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
⁴ Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, U.A. Whitaker Building, 313 Ferst Drive, Suite 2116, Atlanta, GA 30332-0535.
⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, Center for Brain Injury & Repair, University of Pennsylvania, 3320 Smith Walk, 105E Hayden Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, 3320 Smith Walk, 105E Hayden Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
⁶ Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP), 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146; Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146.

Abstract

Head impact sensors measure head kinematics in sports, and sensor accuracy is crucial for investigating the potential link between repetitive head loading and clinical outcomes. Many validation studies mount sensors to human head surrogates and compare kinematic measures during loading from a linear impactor. These studies are often unable to distinguish intrinsic instrumentation limitations from variability caused by sensor coupling. The aim of the current study was to evaluate intrinsic sensor error in angular velocity in the absence of coupling error for a common head impact sensor. Two Triax SIM-G sensors were rigidly attached to a preclinical rotational injury device and subjected to rotational events to assess sensor reproducibility and accuracy. Peak angular velocities between the SIM-G sensors paired for each test were correlated (R2 > 0.99, y = 1.00x, p < 0.001). SIM-G peak angular velocity correlated with the reference (R2 = 0.96, y = 0.82x, p < 0.001); however, SIM-G underestimated the magnitude by 15.0% ± 1.7% (p < 0.001). SIM-G angular velocity rise time (5% to 100% of peak) correlated with the reference (R2 = 0.97, y = 1.06x, p < 0.001) but exhibited a slower fall time (100% to 5% of peak) by 9.0 ± 3.7 ms (p < 0.001). Assessing sensor performance when rigidly coupled is a crucial first step to interpret on-field SIM-G rotational kinematic data. Further testing in increasing biofidelic conditions is needed to fully characterize error from other sources, such as coupling.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acceleration
Biomechanical Phenomena
Head*
Laboratories

Grants and funding

R01 NS097549/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States