title: Ice hockey shoulder pad design and the effect on head response during shoulder-to-head impacts.
abstract: Ice hockey body checks involving direct shoulder-to-head contact frequently result in head injury. In the current study, we examined the effect of shoulder pad style on the likelihood of head injury from a shoulder-to-head check. Shoulder-to-head body checks were simulated by swinging a modified Hybrid-III anthropomorphic test device (ATD) with and without shoulder pads into a stationary Hybrid-III ATD at 21 km/h. Tests were conducted with three different styles of shoulder pads (traditional, integrated and tethered) and without shoulder pads for the purpose of control. Head response kinematics for the stationary ATD were measured. Compared to the case of no shoulder pads, the three different pad styles significantly (p < 0.05) reduced peak resultant linear head accelerations of the stationary ATD by 35-56%. The integrated shoulder pads reduced linear head accelerations by an additional 18-21% beyond the other two styles of shoulder pads. The data presented here suggest that shoulder pads can be designed to help protect the head of the struck player in a shoulder-to-head check.
authors.affiliation: a BIORECON Engineering , Vancouver , Canada.
authors.forename: Darrin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: b Biomechanics Scientific LLC , Phoenix , AZ , USA.
authors.forename: B Johan
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ivarsson
authors.affiliation: c Guidance Engineering and Applied Research , Seattle , WA , USA.|d Applied Biomechanics Lab , University of Washington , Seattle , WA , USA.
authors.forename: Irving
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Scher
authors.affiliation: e Center for Advanced Product Evaluation , Westfield , IN , USA.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hoover
authors.affiliation: f Exponent Failure Analysis Associates , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rodowicz
authors.affiliation: g Orthopaedic & Injury Biomechanics Group and Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Orthopaedics , University of British Columbia , Vancouver , Canada.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cripton
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006257:Head / Q000502:physiology*; D006688:Hockey / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008348:Manikins; D008422:Materials Testing; D011481:Protective Clothing; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012782:Shoulder / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Head injury; injury prevention; protective equipment