Head protection: A new football helmet developed by Xenith is lined with 18 thermoplastic airflow shock absorbers embedded in a flexible cap to better protect athletes from concussions. The helmet’s design adapts to the force of an impact and dissipates the energy to decrease the acceleration of the head and prevent the jarring that causes concussions. A transparent inside view of the helmet is shown at top, while the complete helmet is shown at bottom.
Xenith
A new football helmet could help players avoid brain injuries.
Xenith, a startup company based in Lowell, MA, has developed a new football helmet to better protect athletes from concussions. The helmet is lined with a thermoplastic material that can adapt to the force of impact. On a routine hit to the head, the discs cushion the head, while following a harder, more forceful blow, the material remains stiff and prevents the sudden jarring of the head that causes concussions.
"The idea is that we have something that is more intelligent and responds uniquely to what is happening to it," says Vincent Ferrara, the founder and CEO of Xenith. Testing has also shown that the discs can withstand hundreds of impacts without notable degradation in performance. The Xenith helmet will be available this spring for approximately $350, which is considerably more expensive than helmets already on the market.
The protective material in football helmets has evolved over time from traditional foam padding to gel-filled and inflatable padding. But Joseph Maroon, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Sports Medicine Center, says that none of the designs for football helmets are ideal, and concussions remain a common problem in the sport. "It is estimated that 10 to 25 percent of football players in the United States sustain a concussion each year, and the effects can be catastrophic," says Maroon, the team physician for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. "There is a need for a new type of helmet technology."
To address this need, Xenith has embedded 18 shock absorbers into a flexible cap that lines the inside of a helmet. The shock absorbers are made out of a plastic that is elastic and flexible, thus it can accept a wide range of forces and return to its original shape instantaneously. The shock absorbers are hollow discs featuring a tiny hole to allow air to flow in and out. Upon impact, the walls of the discs collapse to absorb and dissipate the energy.
"When you force air or any fluid to flow through a small hole, you get an adaptive response: the harder [the disc] is hit, the stiffer it behaves, because you are generating more resistance inside the disc," says Ferrara. "You want a system to behave softly under low energy, but under high energy, you want it to get progressively stiffer so that it does not collapse down to nothing." 
The inside lining of the Xenith helmet shown here is a flexible cap embedded with shock absorbers, or black discs, intended to dissipate the energy of a hit and lessen the sudden movement of the head that causes concussions.
Credit: Xenith
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Sports like American football, rugby or hockey are for violent idiots. Which brings up the question of what is the point of protecting such people's brains, when there is so little to protect to begin with?...
Just let them bash each other's heads. That is exactly what they want, don't they?
What's the point??? Are you a complete idiot? Are you one of those 4.0 book smart guys without any common sense? Great job of stereotyping every football player in the country. Is the QB at Harvard just out to bash someone's head in? Rudy Neiswenger , the center for the Kansas City Chiefs is prepared to attend medical school. My 13 year old son suffered a concussion in baseball when he was 9 and now he quarterbacks his team and will play high school football next year. He will be wearing a Xenith and based on his placement test will be in honors classes. Concussions are serious Gabe, if they ever develop the next level of pocket protectors I'm sure you'll be first in line.
You know....this is very insulting, but then again, I can imagine that you are a "pencil pusher" that could never handle playing any type of sport let alone be thrown to the ground like a rag doll because that's how we roll. Instead of insulting others or making useless comments worry about your own hobbies even if it is playing with dolls. Enjoy your day and be sure to watch our 1st game! Be careful going to get your mail....there are cars passing....hahahahahahah
My son just got one of these from school today. It is well worth the cost. It is very well put together and looks like it will provide extra safety for him. A++++
We bought my son who is 10 and suffers migraines a Xenith helmet about 2 months ago. I wasnt told that there was a "breaking in period." He has tried to wear it several times and gets headaches after about 10 minutes of wearing it. The local rep was of no help and now we are out 350 on a helmet. No thanks. We are going back to Schutt.
My son wore a Xenith helmet last year. He found it to offer more comfort and protection than the Riddel he had prior. He is currently wearing a Schutt DNA while he waits for his Xenith to be re-coloured. He is anxious to get his Xenith back. While it is tricky to get the fit just right because of the way the chin strap is used to snug the bonnet against the head I am unaware of a break-in period. We looked at the Schutt ION and found it to be the only real alternative to the X1. I think you may benefit from consulting with someone who really knows about the helmet. The fitting video is also very helpful.
The local high school just bought some of these new helmets. The coach gave them to the running back, linebackers and some lineman. They have played three games. The last two games they have sent 4 kids to the hospital with head injuries. Two are confirmed concision. The other two I am not for sure what they are calling it, but the way the players where acting it was not normal. The head coach is going back to the old helmets. It is my understanding the rep is coming down tomorrow. I am not for sure of all the detail but am very concerned.
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Guest (stevieboy)
Concussion research
There is a movement toward concussion prevention in the form of jaw protection. The NFL, NHL and the military have found blows to the jaw or boxing trauma to be the origin of the majority of MTBI. Helmets only protect from a minority of head trauma, new designs have provided great protection, fitting and monitoring are a problem. A retainer like mouth guard developed the the N.E. Patriots head and neck specialist may hold the answer to protecting the jaw. on the gridiron and in Iraq. Go to www.mahercor.com for studies and news stories.
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KCColorado
1 Comment
Re: Concussion research
After reading the article and comments on Technology Review we recently purchased a Xenith helmet because of the great reputation of MIT. We drove over 100 miles to have it fitted by the Xenith experts. Our son has been playing football for 6 years now. He plays QB and middle linebacker, typically plays every play of the game. His Xenith helmet starts hurting him and he gets severe headaches around halftime. It hurts in the area of his forehead where the most impact is taken. The reason for this is that there are only 2 relatively small points of contact on the forehead; simply not enough surface area to disperse the energy from the impact. His head turns extremely red under each of the front shock absorbers. Now after the first 3 weeks of football, 4 games and spending $200+ on a helmet, we are going to another brand. Anyone want to buy a cheap helmet?
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