An Affordable Real-Time Wearable Monitoring System for Head Impact Detection

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that occurs from rapid head movement during contact sports, road accidents, industrial mishaps, falls, and battlefields, inducing intricate cellular and chemical changes in the brain. Head kinematics measurement is one of the quickest methods for making on-field deployment and initial diagnosis decisions. This paper describes the development of a low-cost, real-time device that can be attached to a helmet and monitor the head kinematics (linear acceleration and angular velocity). This is achieved by sending the data over a Wi-Fi connection to a web browser of a device (PC or Mobile phone) connected to the same network so the user who observes the data can call a doctor to check concussion symptoms. The device incorporates angular and linear accelerometers connected to an Internet of Things (IoT-based) microcontroller (WeMos D1 Mini) programmed using Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE). This setup facilitates real-time observation of head kinematics data through an HTML page. The application of this device can be in different areas such as road accidents, contact sports, military, and mine workers.