PHOTOGRAPHY: SAM RILEY045 STARTHow a mouthguard helps doctors monitor
the impact of concussions on rugby playersHeading offbrain injuryDan Lydiate has been lucky.
“I’ve only probably had three
or four concussions,” says the
rugby union star (right), who
plays as a flanker for Welsh
team Ospreys, and for Wales.
“But at the time, you just think
it’s a bump to the head.”
Concussions have become
a growing issue in contact
sports since 2006, when
autopsies of former US NFL
players found signs of chronic
traumatic encephalopathy,
a degenerative brain condition
that also afflicts some former
boxers, footballers and rugby
players, inducing symptoms
similar to Alzheimer’s disease.
Returning to play too quickly
after a blow to the head can
also exacerbate both the
short-term symptoms and
the long-term consequences;
but pitch-side doctors rely on
honesty from players who just
want to get back on the field.
A new product being trialled
this season by Lydiate and the
Ospreys team will give doctors
a more objective tool: OPRO+
builds impact sensors into the
gumshields worn by players.
This puts the sensors closer
to the centre of the skull – and
because they’re moulded to an
individual, they paint a more
accurate picture of an impact.
“The mouthguard won’t moveRight: Welsh rugby
international Dan Lydiate
and his real-time impact-
monitoring mouthguardindependently of the head,” says
Anthony Lovat, a former dentist
who founded OPRO in 1998.
As well as sensors that can
track linear and rotational
acceleration, each mouthguard
includes an FM radio transmitter
to beam a signal to a pitch-side
receiver in real time. Tracking
collisions over time also enables
coaches to build a “passport”
of historical head impact data,
which could help players enjoy
safer, longer careers. “It can
only be a positive,” says Lydiate.
Amit Katwala opro.com11-19-STRugby.indd 45 12/09/2019 19:36