The Jolt Sensor Improves Concussion Identifica​tion in Youth Athletes

 

 

 

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a company whose Kickstarter campaign and product really intrigued me for several reasons.  When my daughter started playing soccer, I was a bit concerned as I had read that the most head injuries for girls occur in soccer and cheerleading.  Their developing brains aren’t really set up to be taking hits from a rather hard soccer ball.  I realized that at this young of age, most of the girls are not heading the ball, but as she develops and grows, she will be put in situations where she might be heading the soccer ball more often.  Truth be told, this concerns me!  So when Seth Berg contacted me to tell me about a new product his friend and classmate, Benjamin Harvatine, created that helps parents and coaches know if their child has suffered a head injury immediately – I wanted to learn more!

 

 

 The Backstory:

While at wrestling practice, Ben suffered a concussion that was not immediately detected and his brain was exposed to additional dangerous impacts.  Because of this injury, and his concern for the millions of young athletes who also suffer this problem, he began an engineering lab project at MIT and created the Jolt Sensor.  Together, Ben and Seth founded Jolt, an MIT startup.

Head injuries are a concern and as many as 30 million youth athletes in the United States face this problem.  They lack access to adequate sideline technology and medical personnel to identify and evaluate dangerous head impacts as soon as they happen. Over the past year Jolt has developed a technology to address this problem, in the form of the Jolt Sensor.

 

 

How The JOLT Sensor Works:

This small and flexible mounting clip can be attached to any head-worn athletic equipment such as a headband, goggles, helmet or cap.  It is waterproof and has a multi-week battery life.  The sensor enclosure has a soft rounded silicone rubber exterior to prevent injury and is fully waterproofed to stand up to dirt, dust, sweat, and rain. It has a multi-week battery life and is rechargeable via a standard micro USB port.

When an athlete’s head accelerates in a potentially dangerous way, the sensor vibrates to alert the athlete. It also connects wirelessly to parents’ and coaches’ smartphones (Android & iOS), using Bluetooth Low Energy, to alert them on the sidelines. With a range of over a hundred yards, the sensor stays connected anywhere on the field.  So parents and coaches will know immediately via their smartphones if their child is in need of medical attention.

When a dangerous impact is detected, a parent or coach is immediately notified that the athlete should be evaluated on the sideline with the app’s built-in cognitive test and concussion symptom checklist. The results of this test, along with the impact data, are contextualized and presented in simple and understandable terms for parents and coaches.

A player showing any signs or symptoms of a concussion should not return to play until evaluated by a medical professional, as only a doctor can diagnose a concussion. All of the important data that has been collected by the app and sensor is stored in the cloud, for quick and easy access by you and your doctor. (Source: Jolt Kickstarter Campaign).

It is surprising with all the news about football players suffering major concussions and heading out onto the field only to suffer more brain injury because it went undetected, that it has taken so long for a product such as this to be developed!  But thank goodness we finally have at our fingertips a device that is really easy to attach to any athletic head gear that alerts parents and coaches of any possible injuries.

 

Your Child’s Team Could Be Part of the Launch!

As part of their Kickstarter launch,  they are giving away free sensors to entire teams to help test the device before it becomes commercially available. We’re looking for teams that place a big emphasis on concussion safety and awareness, and want to be the first to try out this exciting new technology.  I plan on asking my daughter’s new soccer coach to try this out as well!  I am really thankful that this product was created for our young athletes!

 

Sponsored teams will be selected using a Twitter and Facebook voting campaign. You can cast your vote using Facebook, Twitter, or both (for two votes!). For the best chance to win, encourage other fans of your team to cast more votes.

 

Twitter: Follow @JoltSensor on Twitter and vote for your team by including “@JoltSensor” and “#giveasensor” in your tweet. You can also use this link to open a pre-composed tweet that just needs a team name added to it: https://bit.ly/1pV48j9

 

Facebook: Like the Jolt Sensor page, and post the name of your team using “#giveasensor”, with the Jolt Sensor page also tagged in the post. Here’s a sample voting message for your team: “Hey Jolt Sensor! #giveasensor to <Team Name Here>! kck.st/1qgZFFR”

 

We are excited to find some awesome teams to work with and join us on our mission to reduce head injuries in sports! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email Seth Berg at Seth@joltsensor.com.   You can help ensure that this product gets developed by visiting their Kickstarter campaign.  Their videos are quite compelling!  On behalf of dandelion moms and their wonderful mini dandelions – we will be making a donation!  I know I will feel a ton better watching my daughter play sports with this product.  This is a much needed product for our young athletes – see who else is talking about the Jolt Sensor!  Impressive guys and great work.

 

 

Today’s post is brought to you by Jolt Sensor, an MIT startup building a sensor to help identify potential concussions in youth sports.

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