Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

HeadCheck Health has developed a mobile concussion assessment platform used by medical professionals on the sideline of sports games. The objective of the HeadCheck assessment platform is to provide robust testing methods to sports organizations at every level, reducing the number of athletes who return to sport too soon due to undiagnosed concussions. HeadCheck Health wants to leverage new technology to further enhance their gold-standard tools, through the inclusion of a wearable sensor which helps objectively score the balance component of the concussion test. HeadCheck Health is seeking a collaboration with the Health Design Lab at Emily Carr (HDL) to support the research and design of a wearable enclosure for the sensor and packaging. The HDL will use a human-centred design approach in collaboration with HeadCheck Health to explore ways to embed the sensor in a comfortable and safe manner for athletes. The priorities of the prototyping phase will be usability, functionality and material exploration with consideration given to visual form and aesthetic design and mass production capabilities. The project supports a variety of research and design questions including: how can we securely affix the sensor to the forehead to limit false motion data from the athlete; how can the enclosure provide protection from handling and damage due to sweat or water (weather); what materials will allow for easy cleaning to reduce the transfer of bacteria or sweat when the wearable is shared between athletes? This project gives Emily Carr students and Faculty an opportunity to support our curricular work and research with leading-edge health technology, and industry partnerships, and will lead to a unique product offering within the sports medicine community. A more objective concussion tool for sideline testing means that fewer athletes will return to sport with an unidentified concussion resulting in fewer permanent brain injuries, better healthcare for Canadian athletes overall and a reduced burden on the medical system.