Research Partners
Translating scientific discoveries to practical applications

NIH Bioengineering Research Partnership
Biomechanical Basis of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Multi-Site Study

Funded by:
National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant Award R01HD48638

In 2007, Simbex was awarded a five-year $3.6M Bioengineering Research Partnership (BRP) from NIH to pioneer research on mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion, that correlates clinical symptoms and imaging studies with biomechanical measures of head impact using Simbex’s HIT System™ technology.

The ultimate goal of this NIH research is to improve the understanding of mild traumatic brain injury for the purpose of developing new techniques for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The project includes athletes on men’s football teams and men’s and women’s hockey teams at Dartmouth College, Brown University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The athletes wear helmets instrumented with Head Impact Telemetry (HIT) System technology developed by Simbex in part with NIH funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program since 2000. HIT System technology has been in use on football fields across the country since 2004, with more than 350,000 head impacts collected and analyzed from more than 500 college and high school athletes. The combined football and hockey program merges information regarding the clinical diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury with the players impact history measured on the field.

The partnership includes Dartmouth Medical School Departments of Psychiatry and of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Dartmouth Athletics, Rhode Island Hospital Department of Orthopaedics, Brown University Dept of Athletics, Virginia Tech Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Athletics, and Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine on this research project.

Each of the participating institutions will also extend the research in specific topic areas. Dartmouth will utilize novel functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) imaging and analysis techniques supervised by Dartmouth Medical School professor and co-investigator Tom McAllister, MD, to analyze changes in working memory function in the brain of concussed athletes and in athletes who have sustained multiple sub-concussive impacts. Pediatric neurosurgeon Tina Duhaime, MD, brings her basic science and clinical expertise on the biomechanics and physiologic aspects of brain injury.

Joseph J. Crisco III, PhD, co-inventor of the HIT System technology along with Simbex President Rick Greenwald, continues the advancement of the technology and analysis tools at Rhode Island Hospital Department of Orthopaedics and Brown University.

Stefan Duma, PhD, Professor at Virginia Tech Department of Biomedical Engineering, and P. Gunnar Brolinson, DO, Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine and Team Physician for Virginia Tech are testing next-generation versions of HIT System technology that directly measure of the rotational motion of the head following impacts in sports as well as novel sideline assessment techniques for evaluating players' balance following head impacts.

Applied Research Associates

Simbex partnered with Applied Research Associates Advance Technology Division to help develop a next generation bomb suit for Improvised Explosive Device (IED) removal. Simbex led the design and evaluation of electronic components designed to enhance the situational awareness of the user and to provide active blast protection through the use of electronics and novel materials. Simbex continues to work with Applied Research Associates on various government funded projects.

Brown University Medical School / Rhode Island Hospital Department of Orthopaedics

Simbex has partnered with Brown University’s Joseph J. Crisco III, PhD, co-inventor of the HIT System technology, often in the past. Currently a team from Brown University Medical School and the Rhode Island Hospital Department of Orthopaedics are leading the advancement of the technology and analysis tools in order to better understand how impacts correlate with actual diagnosed concussions and the clinical data associated with those injuries. This work could lead to a more complete understanding of the biomechanics of mTBI and the use of impact monitoring to protect players and soldiers from more serious repeated injuries.

Dartmouth Medical School

Simbex partnered with Dartmouth Medical School researchers Tom McAllister, PhD, Tina Duhaime, MD, and Art Maerlender, PhD, and Dartmouth Athletics to pioneer research that correlates clinical symptoms and imaging studies with biomechanical measures of head impact using the the HIT System™. The combined football and hockey program merges information regarding the clinical diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury with the players impact history measured on the field.

University College Dublin (Ireland) and Charles Owen and Co., Ltd.

Simbex partnered with University College Dublin (Ireland) researcher Michael Gilchrist, PhD, and Roy Burek of Charles Owen and Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of equestrian helmets, to develop HIT System technology for use by equestrian riders. The research, sponsored The Turf Club, is initially focused on quantifying the magnitude and frequency of head impacts to Irish racers and jumpers and to correlate those impacts with the medical diagnosis of concussion.

MIT Media Lab / Harvard Medical School

Simbex founder and President Richard Greenwald, PhD, Principal Investigator on the project, has joined forces with internationally renowned inventor and MIT Media Lab professor Hugh Herr, PhD, for commercial development of PowerFoot One™, the world’s first powered ankle prosthesis for lower limb amputees. This technology represents a paradigm shift in lower limb prosthetics towards powered devices that augment the body’s capabilities far beyond that of passive prosthetic components. Simbex and MIT Media Lab were awarded a contract from the US Army through the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program.

The STTR award provides development funds to advance the PowerFoot One™ product platform and control algorithms, to perform relevant regulatory testing, and to perform clinical validation studies of the benefits of the product for lower limb amputees. The clinical portion of the project is directed by Paolo Bonato, PhD, Director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School/Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Riddell Sports

Simbex developed a commercial version of the Head Impact Telemetry System for Riddell Sports. The Sideline Response System™ (SRS™) and the Revolution IQ HITS™ products from Riddell are the most advanced, real-time, head impact monitoring systems available. The systems were designed for teams and individual player use.

Simbex designed, manufacturers and provides technical support to Riddell for the SRS and the Revolution IQ HITS impact monitoring systems.

Riddell Sports, a portfolio company of Easton-Bell Sports, is a premier designer, developer, and marketer of helmets and equipment used by professional and amateur athletes in team sports. Today, Riddell is the leading provider of football helmets, shoulder pads and reconditioning services.

Virginia Tech, Oklahoma University, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Simbex was engaged by football powerhouses Virginia Tech, University of North Carolina, and University of Oklahoma to pilot use of the HIT System in football. The early data from these on-going multi-year studies, funded internally at the respective universities and by federal sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Simbex has worked closely with its research partners at Virginia Tech, University of Oklahoma and University of North Carolina to provide data reporting tools and data analysis services related to HIT System data collected in the field. A growing number of peer-reviewed publications and presentations at biomedical engineering, biomechanics, and clinical meetings, nationally and internationally, have resulted. Stefan Duma, PhD, Professor at Virginia Tech Department of Biomedical Engineering, and P. Gunnar Brolinson, DO, Virginia College of Osteopathic and Team Physician for Virginia Tech are testing next-generation versions of HIT System technology that directly measure of the rotational motion of the head following impacts in sports as well as novel sideline assessment techniques for evaluating players' balance following head impacts.

Wayne State University

Simbex partnered with Wayne State University researchers Marianne Wilhelm, PhD, and Cindy Bir, PhD to develop HIT System technology for use in amateur boxing headgear. The research, sponsored by the National Operating Committee for Standards in Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), is being performed in conjunction with boxers and medical staff from USA Boxing, and is aimed at quantifying the magnitude and frequency of head impacts to boxers and to correlate those impacts with the medical diagnosis of concussion.

Simbex partnered with Wayne State University researcher Cindy Bir, PhD to develop HIT System technology for use in youth soccer. The research, sponsored by the National Operating Committee for Standards in Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), is being performed in conjunction with a Detroit, Michigan select youth league. The research will compare measurements of head impact frequency measured with the HIT System to manual counts of head impacts during practices and games.