Wireless Sensor System for Monitoring Sportsmen Exposed to Hazardous Concussions

Sammanfattning: Sport-related Traumatic Brain injuries (TBI) are a major problem in ice hockey. Reports show that it occurs 160 concussion per 1000 hours of play time and 4.6% of head injuries leads to a concussion in Sweden. A system that can monitor the players in real time and indicate an impact can contribute to better understanding the biomechanical etiology of a concussion. Purpose of this project is to test the ability of a wireless sensor network for monitoring the g-Forces that affect the head of the ice hockey players in real-time. We build a wireless sensor network system called g-Force Monitoring System (GFMS) by implementing a Web Socket connection between the sensor nodes and the server. The sensor measures and transmits the data over the Web Socket protocol to the server and the server registers and allows monitoring of the g-Force values in real-time. We achieved a 6 ms sampling rate by using the g-Force Monitoring System. The system was able to operate during one hour play time without any significant problem. The stored data shows that the GFMS has an ability to indicate impact and its duration over a predefined threshold. The user of the system can monitor the g-Force data in real time or can do analyzes on stored values. The GFMS can deliver valuable indications. If the system can come to existence and be implemented into the ice hockey helmets, by letting medical experts to look at and analyze the g-Force data, it can decrease the diagnosis and recovery time of a concussion. It can help to make the Ice hockey arena to a safer place without having to change the rhythm of the game.