Otago chip in to fight head injuries
Otago’s provincial rugby players will, from this week, wear an electronic microchip behind their ears during all home matches to measure the forces at play with head knocks.
The device, no bigger than a $2 coin, is culmination of a two-year partnership between the University of Otago, who will conduct ground-breaking research into rugby-related concussions, and Auckland company CSX.
With the support of New Zealand Rugby, all 23 Otago players will wear the device for the first time in tonight’s home match against Wellington.
Ultimately, researchers from Otago’s South Island brain injury group will seek to examine the relationship between head impacts and neck strength.
Research fellow from Otago’s school of physical education and exercise sciences, Dr Danielle Salmon, says this has never been done at semi or professional player level in New Zealand, but it has been conducted on American football, where it was found that increased neck strength could reduce the likelihood that a player would sustain concussion.
‘‘We hope to improve knowledge about concussion in New Zealand, a major medical concern in contact/collision-based sports at all ages and levels of competition,’’ she said.
‘‘The players will wear a CSX head positioning system, a small accelerometer that attaches behind the player’s ear and measures linear and rotational acceleration forces experienced at the head during impact events such as the tackle of ruck.
‘‘If player A has a strong neck and player B has a weaker neck, is there a correlation between that player’s neck strength and the impact they’ll have over the five home games? If we improve neck strength is that an avenue to reduce the forces a player would experience during a tackle or collision?’’
Another positive spinoff will be the ability to register head impacts in real time, eventually allowing a certain threshold to be set for concussion-related impacts.
‘‘We’ll try to get an understanding of the impacts that will happen over a game. We will flag if a player sustains a certain amount of g-forces and sustains a concussion. As we collect data we’ll get a better understanding if there’s a certain threshold and whether that increases the risk.’’
New Zealand Rugby medical director Ian Murphy said the outcome of the research could provide a unique perspective of the implications for the prevention and detection of concussion in rugby.
‘‘Collecting data from players involved in one of our most competitive competitions has the potential to provide vital information in helping determine which players are most at risk from blows to the head or body that may contribute to concussion,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re grateful to Otago rugby and the team at the University of Otago for their innovative approach to this research and for working with us.’’
Dr Salmon says in addition to neck strength, the research team, led by Dr Hamish Osborne from the Dunedin school of medicine, is also measuring brain function of the players pre and post-season, using standardised questionnaires and on-line assessments developed by a brainhq from Posit Science, a company that specialised in improving neuroplasticity through the use of brain training.