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Additional foam layer on ice hockey shoulder pads may play role in prevention of brain injuries
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Investigators found the severity of impact to the head in instrumented dummies was reduced during checking in ice hockey when foam padding was integrated on top of plastic shoulder pads. With further assessment, this shoulder pad design could help prevent brain injuries, according to recently published results.
Researchers identified 15 male hockey players to participate in their experiment. Hockey players were asked to deliver shoulder checks to the head of an instrumented body-checking dummy. The dummies were outfitted with triaxial accelerometers and gyros placed in the helmets. Different trials were performed with the participants delivering their hardest checks to the dummy while they wore two different types of shoulder pads: modified with either with a 2-cm thick layer of polyurethane foam over the shoulder pad or without the extra foam layer.
There was a 25% decrease in average peak linear head acceleration and a 12.4% decrease in average peak of rotational head velocity when participants who delivered checks wore the foam-modified shoulder pads compared with the unmodified shoulder pads. Investigators noted the checking scenario correlated with the velocity of the shoulder impact, but not the condition of the foam or type of shoulder pad.
“The protective benefit of the foam layer did not depend on the type of shoulder pad or the checking scenario,” the investigators wrote. – by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosures: The study was supported by a grant from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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