How to prevent concussions in football? Better helmets
UC engineer investigates ways to improve helmet designs to protect players
Football helmets made by four leading manufacturers showed vulnerabilities in tests designed to better understand player concussions, according to a new study.
University of Cincinnati engineers put popular football helmets made by leading brands through impact testing and found that no single design demonstrated superior reduction of potential concussion incidence or consistent energy absorption at every part of the helmet.
Concussions from football are a health concern across all age groups from youth sports to professional leagues.
The NFL saw a dramatic increase in concussions during the 2022 season. Concussions were up 18% over the previous season, including high-profile players such as Cincinnati Bengals’ receiver Tee Higgins and running back Joe Mixon.
“We’re not trying to get kids to stop playing football,” said Eric Nauman, a professor of biomedical engineering in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. “We just want them to be able to play without suffering long-term consequences.”
The study was published in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.
The study was led by Nauman’s former students at Purdue University Kevin McIver and Patrick Lee along with UC’s Sean Bucherl.
Researchers tested three helmets from each of nine models made by four companies.
“We came up with a test on our own based on some military projects we’ve done,” Nauman said. “We can quantify exactly how much of the impact gets attenuated by the helmet.”
They measured the mass of each helmet, an important consideration in determining how much force is applied during a hard tackle or impact with the ground.
Each helmet was fit per manufacturer’s instructions onto a dummy similar to the kind used in automotive crash testing. The dummy contains sensors called accelerometers that measure how fast the head moves upon impact.
Using an instrument called a modal hammer that contains sophisticated sensors to measure applied force accurately, researchers delivered 20 blows by hand at seven impact points around the dummy’s bare head and its head while wearing each of the 27 helmets.
We’re not trying to get kids to stop playing football. We just want them to be able to play without suffering long-term consequences.
Eric Nauman UC biomedical engineering professor
By measuring force applied to the dummy with and without the helmets, researchers were able to single out the strengths of each helmet design at each impact point. All four brands scored highest in minimizing impact in at least one of the impact points measured.
Helmets were able to mitigate between 52% and 83% of the translational acceleration — or change in velocity — researchers measured in the hammer strikes. The back of the helmets fared worst in testing, reducing less than half the rotational acceleration of hammer strikes.
“None of the helmets was uniformly good or uniformly bad, except on the back of the helmet where they were all uniformly bad,” Nauman said. “We didn’t expect the helmets would be so bad in that one place.”
Several well-known NFL players, including Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, sustained concussions when the back of their head hit the turf.
Researchers noted that lab tests alone are insufficient in determining what level of mitigation provides the best protection for particular athletes. They suggested field-based impact tracking in combination with lab tests could be more useful in future assessments.
Once the force ranges are better characterized, the shell and padding can be designed to maximize energy absorption and reduce the majority of unrestricted or sudden head movements, researchers said.
Nauman said helmet padding that provides more absorption from impacts might offer better protection from concussions than a more rigid type. Likewise, he said some of the more flexible helmet shells improved energy absorption from the repetitive hits typical of football.
“There are a lot of ways to fix it,” Nauman said. “The helmets are generally designed to withstand the maximum possible impact. But that’s a 99th percentile type of hit. If you can design a helmet to protect players from the smaller, more typical hits, that would be ideal.”
Nauman said even modest design changes could have profound benefits for players.
“Our audience is mostly high school or under — the 98 percent of players who don’t play after high school,” Nauman said. “If we can keep them safer through high school, that would be great.”
Featured image at top: UC student Christopher Boles uses a modal hammer to strike a helmet. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
Birthplace of Co-op
UC invented cooperative education more than 100 years ago and continues to create new opportunities for students through internships, service learning, virtual co-ops, community projects and industry partnerships. Learn more.
Related Stories
UC Research Ranking Climbs
January 10, 2002
The University of Cincinnati moved up in two different national rankings established by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to compare college and university research efforts.
Three of Four UC Fulbrights Scholars from McMicken
January 28, 2002
Tainted water supplies in Bangladesh, international security and missile defense, transformations in Mexico and greater understanding of India - this varied list sums up the work of four Fulbright Scholars at the University of Cincinnati who are concentrating on real-life issues involving our neighbors around the world.
Celebrating CAS' Deep Roots in Cincinnati
November 11, 2002
UC s College of Applied Science (CAS) is set to celebrate its rich heritage as the quiet cornerstone upon which Cincinnati industry, learning and culture has built itself since the school s founding on Nov. 20, 1828. The school was founded as the Ohio Mechanics Institute, the first school dedicated to technical education west of the Alleghenies. On Wednesday, Nov. 20, the college will toast its birth with a Founder s Day reception from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the first floor of the CAS Administration Building, 2220 Victory Parkway.
Students Step Up to the Plate for this Final Exam
November 26, 2002
Civility is the main course for UC students set to take their final exam at Pigall's restaurant on December 4.
UC Named Lead Organization for OSHA Training Consortium
January 13, 2003
UC Continuing Medical Education (CME) has been selected as the lead organization for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Great Lakes Training Consortium by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Ignorance of Stroke s Warning Signs a Barrier to Treatment; More Education Needed, UC Researchers Report in JAMA
January 14, 2003
Demographic groups facing the greatest risk of death and disability from stroke are the least likely to recognize stroke s warning signs and risk factors, according to a study by UC researchers published in the January 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
UC Researchers Find New Link Between the Eye and the Clock in the Brain
January 21, 2003
Results of a study done by a team of researchers working in the laboratories of Michael Lehman, PhD, professor, Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy at the UC College of Medicine, will appear in the February issue of Nature Neuroscience.
Leader of Fetal Surgery to Deliver Lectures at UC
January 31, 2003
An internationally recognized authority on fetal surgery will lecture at the UC Medical Center, representing the first of a series of lectures on fetal surgery presented by the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob/Gyn).
UC Celebrates National Heart Failure Awareness Week
January 31, 2003
UC Medical Center physicians Lynne Wagoner, MD, and Harvey Hahn, MD, are teaming up with The University Hospital to celebrate National Heart Failure Awareness Week, Feb. 10-14, 2003.
UC College of Nursing Announces New Scholarship for Graduate Program
January 31, 2003
The UC College of Nursing announces the availability of a new scholarship for a full-time student in the Women s Health Graduate Nursing Program.