Helmet sensors help Army study brain injury

For six years, the U.S. Army has been using sensors embedded in soldiers' helmets to learn more about how servicemembers sustain concussions and other brain injuries.

The device resembles an Apple computer mouse and is designed by an Orange County, Calif. company as an early warning system to document devastating injuries that aren't always visible.

Known as HEADS, the gadget contains a sensor and data recorder that is glued into a soldier's helmet. The device sits dormant until a blow is detected, then it measures and records acceleration information. That data later is downloaded through a USB cable to offer medical experts a better understanding of what happened at the moment of impact.

"It will hopefully someday help them to diagnose traumatic brain injuries, and help get guys medical attention when they need it, or learn how to make the helmets better," says mechanical engineer Steve Pruitt

Pruitt is the president and co-founder of Diversified Technical Systems (DTS), a data recorder and sensor manufacturer based in Seal Beach. In 2007, his DTS team created the high-tech sensor that is helping the Army understand how explosive forces can lead to concussions. The National Football League is using that same type of technology on an experimental basis to learn more about the impact of the blows players receive on the playing field.

So far, more than 27,000 soldiers have worn the specially equipped helmets while deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. soldiers have been diagnosed with more than 250,000 brain injuries since 2000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Early detection and treatment can lessen the long-term symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury, said Maj. Sarah Goldman, director of the Army's Traumatic Brain Injury program in Falls Church, Virginia. But sometimes it's difficult to tell when a soldier has suffered a concussion.

The Seal Beach engineers began working on the sensor technology after the Air Force came up with the idea of placing sensors in aviators' helmets. DTS engineers bid on the approximately $60,000 military contract to create the sensors, then realized they needed help to build a device that would fit into a soldier's helmet.

Pruitt's team partnered with BAE System, a British firm, to tap the company's expertise in manufacturing combat gear. As the project came to life, the U.S. Army also expressed interest in the sensor technology for field use.

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Helmet sensors help Army study brain injury