A Kirkland company has developed a high-tech mouthguard that's being used in high school football games to help learn from hard hits to prevent traumatic injuries in the future.
Athlete Intelligence makes the Vector MouthGuard. Hard hits are detected by the mouthguard then mapped and measured. From there, the information can be sent to a smartphone, allowing medical staff and coaches to instantly know when an injury happens.
"We know where the mouthguard is and we are actually able to project back into a 3-D rendering of the head and tell exactly where those impacts happen in real-time," said Athlete Intelligence President and CEO Jesse Harper. "With that information, armed and empowered with that, you can do your utmost to keep those players safe."
Harper adds that the data can help coaches better exam patterns of behavior, drills that might be leading to more injury, and players who might be operating outside the norm.
"If we can save one kid from a concussion, one child from secondary impact system and potentially death, we've done our job," said Harper.
The company says more than 10,000 athletes are using the technology. Athlete Intelligence has already been able to put it in one local high school, and more schools are showing interest.
Harper says the company can provide the mouthguard to high schools at $99 per athlete.
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