Concussion science above and below the neck

ChiMing Huang turned 70 before he turned entrepreneurial, but he still hopes to make contact sports safer.

The associate professor has been teaching physiology and neurobiology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Think of them as science below the neck and science above the neck.

By combining the two sciences, Huang is pursuing a way to prevent concussions through a 2012 startup called SeudoSkull.

Concussions can be tricky business. Just ask the Kansas City Chiefs. Quarterback Alex Smith missed one game and part of another without officially suffering a concussion, and running back Spencer Ware missed time after officially being concussed.

Huang explained that we all have different concussion thresholds. It seems less than obvious when looking at two professional football players. He makes the point by contrasting them with a peewee league player.

Concussions also can cause longer-lasting problems in children.

“Their brain metabolism can be depressed for long periods of time, weeks or sometimes months,” Huang said. “It cuts into their brain development.”

Down for the count

Huang said he started with basic research, including laboratory tests and boxing videos, “because in boxing, the job is to give you a concussion.”

These included high-speed, 1,000-frames-per-second films. Few of those exist, and fewer are available to research scientists. Huang also found value in analyzing some YouTube videos of boxing.

What SeudoSkull has produced so far is a sensor, a bit smaller than a tube of lip balm, for athletes to wear on their head, perhaps inside a helmet or cap or on a headband. It uses an accelerometer — the device inside a smartphone that can tell that you flipped the device sideways to view a photo or video.

Sensors currently on the market essentially treat all heads the same, Huang said, by presetting the amount of force from impact that should raise concerns about a concussion. The device shines a green, yellow or red light.

SeudoSkull’s sensor uses artificial intelligence to track the wearer’s head movements in sports action. It can then tell whether a sudden twist or jerk of the head is normal, unusual or dangerous specifically for that player, whether in a peewee league or the NFL.

An app helps the wearer, family or coach quickly understand whether a hit should be worrisome. Data that the sensor collects can help medical teams.

SeudoSkull has an Indiegogo campaign to raise money to build sensor prototypes, which the company hopes to deliver next summer. Feedback from users will help further the company’s push toward prevention.

Hammer head

Here’s why you got a concussion: “Your brain was injected with too much energy.”

Here’s what Huang says will prevent that: “You want to dissipate that energy away.”

SeudoSkull’s work on this front involves a football helmet attached to shoulder pads by what look like small shock absorbers. The idea is to channel the force from the part of the body above the neck to the part below the neck. Huang said he’s unaware of any other preventive efforts with that approach.

Huang said tests have shown the equipment (though not ready for the gridiron) could reduce the force of a potentially concussive impact by half, or even more.

“We were, of course, very happy,” he said.

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Concussion science above and below the neck."