HITIQ impact classification validation study
There is growing concern that the accumulation of head impacts during a sportsperson's career could lead to issues associated with long-term brain health. At HITIQ, we believe that through understanding and preventing such incidences it is possible to manage and periodise the level of impacts that a player is exposed to and improve their wellbeing. In order for this process to be effective, the tools used must deliver accurate and repeatable data. If the measurement devices do not detect all relevant impacts then their value within such a strategy is reduced.
The study, Development of a Machine Learning Based Classifier for Identification of Head and Body Impacts in Elite Level Australian Rules Football Players by Goodin, Gardner and Iverson, 2021, set out to establish just that. The researchers observed 60 men and 4 women across 8 AFL clubs and 119 games of the 2020 season to determine how accurately the HITIQ mouthguard detected impacts. Hits were recorded by video review and this number was then compared with how many were detected by the mouthguard. The results showed that over 95 % of the impacts observed from the video footage were also detected and quantified by HITIQ. These findings confirmed our view that HITIQ mouthguards can be used to measure and qualify head and body impacts that are so important to catalogue, understand and be acted upon.
The full study can be downloaded below: