If you’ve been following the NFL games this season, you might have caught a glimpse of an intriguing Public Service Announcement that highlights the league’s ongoing efforts to reduce concussions.
Amidst the gripping touchdowns and heart-stopping tackles in the ad, there was a brief moment—a 3D scan of a human head—that might have slipped under your radar. But for us, this fleeting visual was a game-changer.
Why? Because it shows how Structure, an industry leader in 3D scanning and software, is making a difference in concussion research and equipment improvements - the safest equipment is the best fitting equipment, and with Structure you can ensure 1-1, personalized fit.
Concussions continue to be a major issue, not just in football, but in the sports world in general. According to the University of Michigan, there are 3.8 million sports-related concussions annually. The majority of these occur in children. According to the Center for Disease Control, about 7 out of 10 emergency department visits for sports- and recreation-related concussions are among children ages 17 and under.
Concussions present a multi-faceted issue, with a variety of causes. It’s going to take a team effort across multiple sport disciplines, research and health care organizations, as well as product manufacturers to improve helmet and protective equipment safety, with the goal of alleviating the number of concussions in participants. At Structure, we are ready to play our part.
Properly fitting equipment plays an instrumental role in improving safety and protection, while reducing concussions. Across sporting disciplines that require helmets, including football, lacrosse, hockey, cycling, skateboarding, snowboarding and skiing, a properly fitting helmet, tailored to each user’s individual characteristics could provide the difference in athlete safety.
That’s where 3D scanning technology can play such an important role. Structure Sensor 3 provides highly accurate scans that can be used by manufacturers to 3D print custom fitted sports equipment. Our team of engineers and app developers has worked with a variety of sports equipment manufacturers in the past, football equipment manufacturers such as Riddell, Vicis, Schutt, Xenith and Douglas Pads, hockey equipment brands such as CCM and Bauer, to develop custom fitted equipment.
In addition, our scanners are used in academic and private research facilities to better understand the relationship between properly fitted equipment and head injuries. This work is contributing to important safety advancements across sports safety equipment.
The battle to reduce concussions won’t be won overnight, but Structure is ready move the ball down the field. If you are a sports equipment manufacturer looking for an edge on providing individualized fit, or a research facility looking for answers, Structure is here to help. Our Structure Software Development Kit provides tools to allow developers to create their own scanning apps, while our Structure 3 scanner and our Structure Capture app provide the tools clinicians need for industry leading 3D scanning. And, of course, our 30-person engineering team is here to help our customers develop their 3D Scanning and 3D Printing capabilities.
We look forward to leveraging all these assets in the push to reduce concussions and make sports safer for everyone.
Learn more about how Structure is democratizing healthcare for all at https://structure.io/