MOUTHGUARD THAT FEELS THE FORCE COULD HELP TO TACKLE CONCUSSION

RUGBY is turning to technology to help understand concussion. For two seasons, Welsh side Ospreys have been trialling a mouthguard which measures the force of blows to the head. The technology is being developed by Swansea University and start-up Sports and Wellbeing Analytics (SWA). A chip inside the mouthguard (right) gives medical teams real-time monitoring of all collisions and the dangers they could pose. The results are recorded on a pitchside laptop, allowing doctors to see the size of the collision in G-force and whether anyone may need to be taken off. ‘It is a traffic-light system,’ says Richard Lancaster of SWA. ‘So

there’ll be an alert: this player has had an amber hit, it might be worth an HIA. Or a red hit, which is absolutely this player needs an HIA.’ GLEN WILLIAMS