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Mouthguards that send head impact data live to the sidelines set for PRO14 debut
Sport’s search for better protection from concussions will take a step forward on Saturday when Ospreys and Cardiff Blues players become the first to compete while wearing mouthguards that send head impact data to the sidelines.
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The instrumented mouthguards are made by Hemel Hempstead-based OPRO, the world’s leading provider of advanced gum shields, and they contain a tiny electronic chip that measures impacts and sends the data, in real time, to a receiving station that can be plugged into a team doctor’s laptop.
The ‘PROTECHT’ chips are designed by Swansea’s Sports and Wellbeing Analytics and assembled in South Wales, which means this significant advance in player welfare is entirely made in Britain.
Instrumented mouthguards have been used by athletes in contact and combat sports for several years but, until now, their data could only be downloaded after the bout, match or training session – OPRO’s new mouthguards are the first to give medical staff an instant picture.
OPRO’s founder Dr Anthony Lovat explained that the chip only adds about a millimetre of thickness to the side of the mouthguard and players have experienced no problems with them.
We are extremely honoured and proud to announce that we have been presented with The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2019.
Want to see what all the fuss is about? CLICK HERE: https://t.co/7YNRhtHeiX pic.twitter.com/c7FhpUqYAj
— OPRO (@OPROMouthguards) April 23, 2019
The potential benefits for rugby union, and other contact sports, are obvious, with recent surveys suggesting the vast majority of players suffer a concussion at some point in their careers.
This is complicated by the issue of sub-concussive hits, impacts below the concussion threshold that still damage the brain, and the fact that many concussion cases go undiagnosed because only one in 20 players actually lose consciousness after the impact.
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Dr Lovat stressed that the mouthguards will not solve these problems on their own, far from it, but they can be another tool in the medical team’s kit.
“We’re being very careful to say that interpretation of the data is still key and that will depend on experts on the sidelines,” he said.
? #GUINNESSPRO14 Preview @cardiff_blues v @ospreys
?? Who's playing
? Who's in form
? Where to watch
?? Click here ?https://t.co/I1Z7uNPk06— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) April 26, 2019
“But we believe this technology will give them raw, physical data on potential head injuries, when they need it, and we think that could be a hugely valuable tool.”
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The chips, which have linear and rotational accelerators to measure the impact and a transmitter to send the data via text message, have rechargeable batteries that last more than four hours – more than enough for the longest training session, too.
Dr Lovat, an entrepreneurial dentist, set up OPRO 21 years ago after seeing his daughter’s team-mate lose a tooth in a lacrosse match because she was wearing her uncomfortable gumshield in her sock, not her mouth.
Since then, the company has become a global leader in its field, supplying the England and New Zealand rugby union teams, 11 of 12 Premiership sides, UFC and Great Britain’s Olympic hockey and taekwondo teams.
“We have already had huge interest from a wide range of sports in the new mouthguards, so it’s possible that international rugby sides, boxers, mixed martial arts fighters, hockey players, you name it, will be wearing these clever devices soon,” he said.
“OPRO takes no credit for the chips, that is all down to SWA who came to us a couple of years ago with the idea, but we have worked on this together and everything about this is British, which I think is something worth celebrating.”
– Press Association
WATCH: THE RugbyPass series – Beyond 80 – takes an unflinching look at the reality of concussion in rugby
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t pay a blind bit of notice to Lukie… he likes the sound of his own voice and is always looking for something controversial to say. He has been banging on about Leinster's defensive system all season like he knows something Jacques Nienebar doesn’t. Which is the reason why he didn’t apply for the job obviously
14 Go to commentsWho got the benefits out of Schmidt, Lowe, Aki, and Gibson Park?
14 Go to commentsWhat’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
14 Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
1 Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here …. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at it’s very best …. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying “see you in 5 weeks same place”, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it as being in any way “arrogant”, rather a sort of jolly “if we both continue to play like this, no one could stop us” - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 ….. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive …..
135 Go to commentsThere’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
14 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
14 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
135 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
135 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
5 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
135 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
14 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to comments