It’s the most important piece of equipment an athlete can have while out on the field, and now the latest piece of technology to keep football players safe on the field is getting a bit of help from a local engineering team.

Football helmets have evolved over more than a century from crude leather bonnets to face-masked, polycarbonate battering rams. But they still often fail to protect brains from the sudden forces that cause concussions. Studies have found that 10 to 50 per cent of high school players each season sustain concussions, whose effects can range from persistent memory problems and depression to coma and death.

The new technology is called Adaptive Head Protection, or X1. Xenith’s Web site explains the new system as consisting of two patent-pending concepts, Aware-Flow Shock Absorbers and Fit-Seeker Technology, and is being developed through a sponsored agreement with the University of Ottawa.

Contemporary helmet manufacturers have made a point of improving protection against concussions. The new helmet, rather than being lined with rows of traditional foam or urethane, features 18 black, thermoplastic shock absorbers filled with air that can accept a wide range of forces and still moderate the sudden jarring of the head that causes concussion.

Moreover, laboratory tests have shown that the disks can withstand hundreds of impacts without any notable degradation in performance, a longtime drawback of helmets’ traditional foam.

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From ATV.ca