Inducing head motion with a novel helmet during head-first impact can mitigate neck injury metrics : an experimental proof-of-concept investigation using mechanical surrogates.

There is a need for cervical spine injury prevention from head-first impacts in many sports and in various transportation contexts. An experimental helmet prototype is presented that induces anterior or posterior head motion in a head-first impact as a mitigation strategy. Instrumented mechanical surrogates for the human neck, head, and helmet were tested on a drop tower. Peak lower-neck axial force and moment were used as injury metrics. A factorial experiment examining 3 escapes, 3 platform angles, and 2 platform stiffnesses was performed. The appropriate head-motion "escape" reduced mean peak axial force by up to 56% and moment by up to 72% compared to no escape. For the covering abstract see ITRD E144229.