Shockbox Aims to Help Diagnose Concussions on the Fly

One of the bigger problems with diagnosing concussions, especially during an actual game, is that symptoms present themselves differently for every person. When a player goes limp, becomes dizzy, or loses consciousness, a concussion becomes easier to diagnose. But often times a concussion can occur without presenting such harsh symptoms. A player may experience a concussion without severe side-effects, or even without knowing it.

The Canadian company Shockbox is striving to create an easier way to treat and prevent concussions with the help of sensors placed in the helmet. The sensors go for $179.99, and can last up to three years with periodic charging. After the sensors are secured in the helmet, they are paired with a smartphone or tablet. Up to 125 sensors can be paired with any given device, so even an entire team can be monitored at once. Any significant impact will send data to the device, and alerts can be set up to notify coaches or parents of a specifically hard hit so that the player can be removed immediately for further testing or rest. Shockbox also offers a cloud service (for Android platforms only at the moment, though an iOS platform is in developement), so that multiple days/games worth of data can be stored for research or to keep tabs on a player’s history.

Shockbox’s CEO and CTO, Danny Crossman, started the company in 2010 after transitioning from developing the same type of technology for the military. His company now has six full-time employees and is gaining partnerships with multiple youth leagues and college teams. Crossman noted that all of the manufacturing is done in North America, with no contracting going overseas. Sensors are sold throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. Shockbox offers sensors fitted for many types of helmets, including football, hockey, lacrosse, skiing/snowboarding, and biking.

Scalability is what makes Shockbox’s product so appealing. While it’s feasible that an entire team or league can be outfitted with sensors, sometimes that just isn’t an option. However, concerned parents of young athletes can purchase a sensor individually and pair it with their own phone or tablet to keep tabs on their child’s impacts with realtime monitoring, allowing them to pull their child from competition if they suffer a significant blow. It’s just as Shockbox’s motto states: Know When a Hit is Too Hard.

As we know more about concussions and how they happen, devices like Shockbox will become even more valuable. Crossman himself admitted that by the time his sensors reach end-of-life after about three years of use, the technology will surely have changed. Nevertheless, Shockbox offers an easy and reasonably-priced way to help ensure player safety. Undoubtedly, as the dangers of head injuries continue to rise in visibility within the public, more and more teams and organizations will adopt this kind of technology on a sweeping scale. That’s good not just for Shockbox’s bottom line, but for parents, coaches, and players everywhere.

(Header image via Elliot Connor Photography)