Sports information and wearable technology company i1 Biometrics, developer of the Vector MouthGuard with ESP Chip Technology, reports that it has joined with Louisiana State University (LSU) on an engineering and football research Beta program. According to a news release from the Kirkland, Wash-based company, LSU has outfitted several of its football players with i1 Biometrics’ Vector MouthGuards with ESP Chip Technology in an effort to measure the linear and rotational accelerations of head impacts during practice and games.

The partnership comes on the heels of a larger emphasis being placed on an improved understanding of head impact and concussions resulting from on-field activities by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the broader sports industry.

This season, the release says, i1Biometrics is working with LSU players, coaches, and trainers to monitor and measure how football players absorb head impacts during practice and games.

The Vector MouthGuard is designed to make an accurate, real-time reading of head impact, and the ESP Chip Technology helps translate immediate data to a handheld device used by trainers on the sidelines. The data is intended to exhibit the severity and location of the impact, which may assist in proper decision-making by the training staff in the event they decide to remove the player from the field of play for further medical evaluation.

Jesse Harper, CEO, i1 Biometrics, emphasizes the struggle faced by coaches and trainers centered around discerning the severity and location of head impact on the field of play.

“The Vector MouthGuard with ESP Chip Technology is engineered to reduce the guesswork so that coaches and trainers have accurate and timely data to help make proper decisions for their student athletes,” Harper says.

Jack Marucci, director of Athletic Training, notes in the release that player safety and well-being will always be a priority concern in the university’s program, as well as that of the NCAA. “We believe this partnership with i1 Biometrics will provide us with the insight and resources required to have a much better understanding of head impacts and concussions,” Marucci adds.

The release states that the Vector MouthGuard and ESP Chip Technology can also play a role in helping athletes achieve optimum performance levels. Using handheld technology, trainers can realize measurable results from performance analytics in order to inform forward-looking training programs and individualized athlete-conditioning environments.

[Source: i1 Biometrics]