A team of researchers at Michigan Tech have used the human head itself as a model for building a helmet lining that mimics the body’s own tricks for deflecting blows to the head. For example, the scalp—designed for redirecting oblique impacts, the skull—for absorbing normal impacts and the cerebral spinal fluid—for dampening the final impact on the brain. The human skull is simulated with a light composite sandwich shell, the the scalp with thin elastic discs and the spinal fluid with a soft padding system. The protective layer can be inserted into a helmet in addition to the regular helmet liner. It protects the head inside the helmet against both oblique and normal impacts.  The latest prototype has passed drop-test standards set by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), preventing damage at 155 times the force of gravity (155 g’s), the maximum load the brain can take without sustaining injury. They are also evaluating their invention using a mathematical model that enables them to optimize performance based on the properties of the materials they use.

File Number: 0810.00