The inventor Zachary Berry was inspired to invent the “Real-Time Concussion Mapping Helmet” being a high school Varsity football player at Greater Atlanta Christian School and a lifelong fan of the game. His hope in designing the “Real-Time Concussion Mapping Helmet” is to offer a product that will provide added safety, and improved rapid response for concussion protocols.

The inventor passionately feels a sense of pride about this concept and wholeheartedly believes in the positive impact its development will have on individuals, companies, and markets to which it will be promoted.

The inventor Zachary Berry has been designing and documenting this concept since January 2020. Drawings of the invention are contained in U.S. Patent Application 17093739, dated 10 Nov 2020.

As currently designed in the technical drawings and 3-D models, the invention has unique features not presently available in the marketplace. Although the system has not yet been engineered and is still in the 3-D developmental stages, an explanation of the possible functionality is as follows:

The Helmet will consist of industry standard manufacturing with the novel addition of two sets of sensors (primary and secondary) located throughout the helmet between the shock layer and the outer and inner shells.

The helmet has an outer and inner shell with an embedded shock layer of material between them. There is a set of cushioning pads, an optional facemask, a chinstrap, and two sets of sensors (primary and secondary) that measure the location on the helmet and the length and strength of a head impact. A transmitter will also be employed to receive and send sensor measurements to a non-player. It may be located either within the helmet or attached to a device outside the helmet.

The cushioning pads within the helmet, as well as the shock-absorbing layer of material between the inner and outer layers of the helmet, serve to absorb or deflect a helmet impact to minimize the actual impact to a user’s head. The sets of impact sensors within the helmet may be located on the front, top, sides, back and base of the helmet to measure the location, magnitude, duration, velocity and acceleration of all impact to the helmet after the impact has been partly absorbed by the shock-resistant layer and send that information to a transmitter within the helmet. Such sensors could include accelerometers, strain gauges and other transducers. The helmet may also contain a facemask and chinstrap to further deflect or minimize all head-on impact to a user’s head, as well as small openings to allow airflow and improve a player’s hearing.

The helmet design and associated application can also be used to record the time and duration of each impact from the transmitter, calculate the impact’s likely result on head safety, and provide that information via a common device (like a smartphone). Coaches or other staff can then use resulting statistical information received to monitor head impacts experienced and the areas of the head affected by any impact.

The goal is to quickly recognize an impact large enough to cause a concussion as soon as it occurs, warranting the implementation of concussion protocol for an affected player. The system will help ensure earlier deployment of concussion protocols by providing a common series of steps and the order in which they should be taken, and/or by preventing a concussion by allowing coaches to remove players when their cumulative head impact in a practice or game puts them in range of getting a concussion with the next impact.