GB2570726A

GB2570726A - Mouth-guard

Info

Publication number: GB2570726A
Application number: GB1801914.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Redshaw Nicolas; Stephen Powell William; Michael William Cassidy Jonathan
Original assignee: Sports and Wellbeing Analytics Ltd
Current assignee: Sports and Wellbeing Analytics Ltd
Priority date: 2018-02-06
Filing date: 2018-02-06
Publication date: 2019-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 2038-02-06
Also published as: GB2570726B; GB201801914D0

Abstract

The mouth-guard has a body 12 suitable to extend around a portion of a tooth of a wearer and has a system 28 for monitoring acceleration experienced by the mouth-guard. The system 28 communicates acceleration data to a monitoring station. The system 28 and a power source 26 are embedded within material of the body and are located approximate a posterior teeth region of a mouth of a wearer. The power source 26 and system 28 may be embedded within a palatal wall 16 of the body 12 and may be encapsulated in an inert material, e.g. parylene C. An antenna may be remote from the system 28 and may be part of a connection lead between the power source 26 and system 28. The acceleration detected may relate to head impacts in contact sports and be used to monitor for concussion. Also provided is a mouth device for measuring physiological data which may include a receiver to communicate received data from a remote device to monitoring circuitry of the mouth device. The physiological data may be hydration, temperature or electrolyte levels.

Description

MOUTH-GUARD

FIELD

The present invention relates to a mouth-guard for monitoring impacts to a wearer and particularly, but not exclusively, to a mouth-guard for wear by a participant in a contact sport.

BACKGROUND

Participants in sports, particularly contact sports, such as, for example, Rugby Football, American (NFL) Football, Boxing, Mixed martial arts (MMA), etc., and particularly professional participants in sports, receive impacts from collisions with other participants during match play. These impacts may be, and often are, heavy, violent impacts and may include direct head impacts. A head of the participant receiving such a heavy impact may be moved violently and be subject to great accelerative forces, termed hereinafter “head impact event. While an individual head impact event may not cause a concussion event of its own effect, the effect of such violent movements can be cumulative. Therefore, when a participant has sustained a critical number of violent head movements over a certain period it is advisable to prevent the participant from playing in further games to reduce the risk of the participant being exposed to the chance of a potential serious head injury event, for example, one that might cause concussion, or further concussion, or other serious injury. It is possible to monitor impacts sustained by participants, not only during individual matches, but also over the course of their careers so that a medical team or coach, for example, can be made aware of the situation. A participant may be advised as to when they should next play or train.

Historically, it has been difficult to monitor head impact events, particularly the linear and rotational acceleration and forces actually encountered by a participant during a game. One method used to date in professional games has involved a “spotter” for each participant. The “spotter” typically may be located in the audience at the sporting event, or may be viewing the sporting event remotely via a video link. Each “spotter” is tasked with monitoring impacts, or blows, received by their assigned participant. If the “spotter” observes an impact event that they deem to be a head impact event, they can coordinate the stoppage of play in order to remove their assigned participant from the field-of-play to be assessed by a qualified medical practitioner. However, such assessment is, generally, subjective and does not provide an accurate indication of the forces sustained, which may be different for each participant involved in a collision leading to one or more head impact events. Furthermore, it is highly expensive, because personnel may be required for each participant on the field-of-play. Additionally, such a monitoring environment is generally not available in amateur-level contact sports matches and thus amateur sportsmen are not afforded the same level of monitoring for head impact events as their professional counterparts.

In an attempt to objectively measure the accelerations or forces sustained by a participant, it has been suggested to use monitoring units, to be worn by the participant. Such monitoring units include sensors, for example inertial measurement units, which operate to monitor acceleration experienced by a wearer during the course of match play. Data produced by the sensors of the monitoring units can be stored in an on-board memory and/or transmitted to a monitoring station for review by a technician. However, use of such monitoring units, particularly in professional games, may be prohibited under the regulations of certain sports, because the regulations prohibit the attachment of solid objects to the outside of a body of the participant (i.e. either worn by the participant or worn in the clothing of the participant).

In addition, there has been resistance from participants who are reluctant to adopt the use of such monitoring units. This may stem from a concern that their careers may be ended prematurely if they are involved in what is assessed to be too many head impact events. It is therefore desirable that any system developed to address the problems of low adoption rates and reducing subjectivity in assessments can accurately measure the accelerations sustained to try to reduce instances of false positives, and possibly lengthen a playing career otherwise shortened due to the inaccuracy and procedures associated with conventional approaches.

One type of known monitoring unit comprises an adhesive-backed unit, which allows for mounting of the unit behind an ear of a participant. The unit is operative to monitor for head impact events. However, measured impact readings from such units can vary extensively, depending on the location of the sensor behind the ear, which puts into question the accuracy of the measurements. Furthermore, as discussed above, use of such devices in professional games are prohibited.

Another type of known monitoring unit comprises a unit integrated with, or embedded in, a helmet (e.g. as used in American Football). Again this type of unit is operative to monitor for head impact events during match play. However, as the helmets may move relative to the head during an impact event the measurements may be inaccurate and may not provide an accurate indication of whether or not a head impact event has occurred. In addition, such a system is suitable only for sports like American Football where helmets are used and is not suitable for other sports such as, for example, Rugby Football.

A further known type of monitoring unit comprises a mouth-guard or gumshield (hereinafter “mouth-guard”) embedded with sensors. Such types of units have been increasingly adopted, because they are worn within a mouth of the participant (and so their use is unlikely to be prohibited by the regulation of many sports, because they are not worn outside the body). Furthermore, they are seen as potentially more accurate than external units worn on the body, or located in helmets, because they may measure more accurately the sustained acceleration by a participant due to an impact on the participant (from which acceleration an impact force can be derived). This is because they are typically worn against teeth of the upper jaw, and since the upper jaw is a fixed part of the head (as opposed to the lower jaw, which is moveable relative to the rest of the head), will move with the head. Therefore, the unit will typically undergo the same movement during an impact event (and experience the same forces and accelerations) as that experienced by the head itself. Such units are seen to be beneficial, because no adhesions of sensors to the head or neck of the participant are required.

In many of these mouth-guard types of units, the monitoring sensors are located in a portion of the mouth-guard that is locatable against an outer surface of the upper teeth of the participant. This is to ensure that a data signal transmitted by the unit to a monitoring station does not suffer interference, or attenuation, that may be caused by having to pass through the teeth. Locating at least the transceiver element of such units in an outer portion of the mouth-guard may reduce, or inhibit, these issues.

Aspects and embodiments of the present invention has been devised with the foregoing in mind.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mouthguard for detecting acceleration experienced by a head of a wearer, the mouth-guard comprising: a body comprising a formation for surrounding at least a portion of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer and configured for location against at least a portion of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth at least at one of: an anterior teeth region of a mouth of the wearer; a posterior teeth region of a mouth of the wearer; and a position between the anterior and posterior teeth regions of a mouth of the wearer; a system for monitoring acceleration experienced by the mouth-guard and operative to communicate acceleration data to a monitoring station; a power source electrically coupled to the system for monitoring acceleration and for providing power thereto; wherein the power source is embedded within material of the body and is located within a region of the body that is locatable at a posterior teeth region of a mouth of a wearer, and further wherein the system for monitoring acceleration is embedded within the material of the body and is located within a region of the body that is locatable at a posterior teeth region of a mouth of a wearer.

Locating the power source and system for monitoring acceleration in a region of the body that is locatable at a posterior teeth region of a mouth of a wearer results in these components, when the mouth-guard is worn, being located closer to a centre of mass of a head of the wearer and therefore closer to where an acceleration of the brain is experienced. Also, location toward the back of the mouth may inhibit damage to the components because the front of the mouth is typically more vulnerable to experiencing an impact.

Optionally, the formation may comprise a trench in which at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer are locatable, the trench defined by: a first wall configured to cover at least a portion of a vestibular surface of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer; a second wall configured to cover at least a portion of a palatal surface of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer; and a third wall connecting the first and second walls and configured to cover at least a portion of incisal and occlusal surfaces of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer.

Optionally, the power source may be embedded within material of the second wall. Further optionally, the system for monitoring acceleration may be embedded within material of the second wall. Embedding the power source and/or the system for monitoring acceleration within the second wall may further protect one, other, or both, of the power source and system, because the second wall is protected from external impact, in part at least, by the teeth of the wearer.

Optionally, the system for monitoring acceleration may be embedded within material of the first wall.

Optionally, the power source and/or the system for monitoring acceleration may be encapsulated in an inert material. Further optionally, the inert material may comprise parylene C.

Optionally, the power source and/or the system for monitoring acceleration may be encapsulated in material of the body.

Optionally, an antenna of the system for monitoring acceleration may be located remote from the system for monitoring acceleration towards, or at, a region of the formation locatable against an anterior teeth region of the wearer. Further optionally, the antenna may be embedded within the protective material of the first wall.

Optionally, the system for monitoring acceleration and the power source may comprise separate discrete elements. Further optionally, the system for monitoring acceleration and the power source may be electrically connected by a connection lead. Yet further optionally, the connection lead may comprise an antenna of the system for monitoring acceleration.

Optionally, at least one of: dimensions of components of the system for monitoring acceleration; dimensions of a circuit board upon which the system for monitoring acceleration is disposed; an arrangement and/or configuration of components of the system for monitoring acceleration upon a circuit board upon which the system for monitoring acceleration is disposed, may be optimized, and/or reduced, to reduce a volume and/or footprint of the system for monitoring acceleration.

Therefore, by optimizing/reducing the dimensions of the system for monitoring acceleration so as to decrease the foot-print, there will be an increase in the amount of material in contact between the opposed first and second surfaces. As a result, a weakness of the portion of the mouth-guard where the system for monitoring acceleration force is encapsulated may be reduced (includes reduced air pockets and delamination). Thus, instances of failure of this portion during an impact (e.g. when a wearer may clench together the teeth of the upper and lower jaws, thereby increasing pressure on the mouth-guard) may be reduced.

Minimising the footprint of electronic components of the system for monitoring acceleration and substrates supporting them, e.g. circuit boards, may improve the integrity of the mouth-guard, because the volume of the mouth-guard that is not occupied by material from which the mouth-guard is formed is minimised. In particular, the space between external surfaces (i.e. first and second surfaces) of the wall of the mouth-guard in which the system for monitoring acceleration is encapsulated may be lessened, if the circuit board is smaller. This may improve the creation of a vacuum in the vacuum forming process and thus improve the integrity of the mouth-guard. Specific implementations may include splitting the circuit board up to have smaller circuit board elements.

Also, minimising the footprint of electronic components of the system for monitoring force and substrates supporting them may provide for a more comfortable mouth-guard, because there are smaller deformaties (from the electronic components) compared with known types of mouth-guards.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for wearing in the mouth for measuring physiological data, the device comprising: a formation for location against at least a portion of at least one maxillary tooth and/or at least one mandibular tooth of a wearer; monitoring circuitry for monitoring physiological data, the monitoring circuitry embedded within material of the formation; and a power source for providing power to the monitoring circuitry, the power source embedded within material of the formation.

Optionally, the device may further comprise a transmitter communicatively coupled to the monitoring circuitry and operative to transmit physiological data received from the monitoring circuitry to a remote device.

Optionally, the device may further comprise a receiver communicatively coupled to the monitoring circuitry and operative to communicate received data from a remote device to the monitoring circuitry.

Optionally, said physiological data may comprise at least one of: hydration; temperature; and electrolyte levels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more specific embodiments in accordance with aspects of the present invention will be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the following drawings in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a mouth-guard according to one or more embodiments of the present invention in which embedded and/or encapsulated components are arranged in a first arrangement;

Fig. 2 illustrates a mouth-guard according to one or more embodiments of the present invention in which embedded and/or encapsulated components are arranged in a second arrangement;

Fig. 3 illustrates a system for providing a monitoring environment for monitoring acceleration sustained by participants in a sporting event;

Fig. 4 illustrates components of a mouth-guard according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 5 illustrates an impact assessment system comprising one or more mouth-guards according to one or more embodiments of the present invention; and

Fig. 6 illustrates an example environment where an impact assessment system comprising one or more mouth-guards according to one or more embodiments of the present invention may be employed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

A mouth-guard (or gum-shield) is a piece of protective equipment worn by participants in sports, particularly contact sports. A mouth-guard is typically worn in an upper part of the mouth of the participant and is generally configured to cover at least a portion of the upper teeth of the participant. Most typically, a mouth-guard is configured to cover at least a portion of a vestibular (outer) surface of upper teeth of the wearer, at least a portion of a palatal (inner) surface of upper teeth of the wearer, and at least a portion of incisal and occlusal surfaces (i.e. “biting” and “chewing” surfaces) of upper teeth of the wearer.

In general outline, a mouth-guard according to one or more embodiments of the present invention can form a part of a system for the detection, measurement, characterisation, transmission, and/or reporting of impact events causing acceleration to be experienced by participants. Sensor components and/or monitoring element components located in the mouth-guard are used to monitor accelerations experienced by participants and data representative of such accelerations can be conveyed to a monitoring station for review by a technician, for example, a trained medical professional. This can allow the technician to make a decision regarding whether or not a participant in a sports match is fit to continue playing (e.g. following a particularly heavy head impact event) or should be removed from play and referred for further testing with a medical professional.

In the present description, the phrase “head impact event” relates to both direct impacts to the head and indirect impacts. That is, where the head receives a blow directly, or when a blow is sustained to some other body part and the force of the blow causes, amongst other things, an acceleration of the head. Further, reference is made to a participant sustaining an impact and their head experiencing an acceleration because of the impact. The acceleration of the head may be as a result of an impact directly to the head (i.e. a force is exerted on the head directly), or as result of an impact to another part of the body, but the result of which is that force is transmitted to the head from the point-of-impact through the body and neck. Such an acceleration may be termed an impact acceleration.

The sensor and/or monitoring element components are embedded and/or encapsulated in material from which the mouth-guard is formed.

Fig. 1 illustrates a mouth-guard 10 according to one or more embodiments of the present invention in which embedded and/or encapsulated components are arranged in a first arrangement. Fig. 2 illustrates a mouth-guard 10 according to one or more embodiments of the present invention in which embedded and/or encapsulated components are arranged in a second arrangement.

In the illustrated mouth-guard 10 of Figs. 1 and 2, components are shown positioned in walls of the mouth-guard that are locatable at the rear of a mouth of a wearer when the mouth-guard is located correctly in the mouth.

The components are connected electronically by means of wires or circuit board (which may be flexible) and are communicatively coupled to a transceiver for transmitting data received from the components to a monitoring station in real-time. These components operate to collect and process impact event data, which can then be transmitted to the monitoring station via the transceiver.

Various terms used in dentistry are used in describing the mouth-guard 10 of one or more embodiments of the present invention. The terms used in this disclosure are listed below:

• Anterior - The direction towards the front of the head or the lips, as opposed to posterior, which refers to the directions towards the back of an individual's head. The term anterior teeth refers to incisors and canines, as opposed to premolars and molars, which are posterior teeth;

• Distal - The direction towards the gums beyond the tooth furthest from the midline (i.e. the 'most posterior tooth' or last tooth) in each quadrant of a dental arch, as opposed to mesial, which refers to the direction towards the midline;

• Incisal - The direction towards the biting edge of front teeth. This is a related term to occlusal, which relates to the analogous location on rear teeth;

• Mandibular - Relating to the mandible, or lower jaw;

• Maxillary - Relating to the maxilla, or upper jaw;

• Mesial - The direction towards the midline in a dental arch, as opposed to distal, which refers to the direction towards the gums beyond the tooth furthest from the anterior midline (the 'most posterior tooth' or last tooth) in each quadrant;

• Midline - Roughly, an imaginary vertical line dividing the left and right sides of the mouth at the teeth;

• Occlusal - The direction towards the biting surface of rear teeth. This is a related term to incisal, which relates to the analogous location on anterior teeth;

• Palatal - The side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the palate, as opposed to vestibular, which refers to the side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the inside of the cheek or lips of the mouth respectively;

• Posterior - The direction towards the back of an individual's head, as opposed to anterior, which refers to the directions towards an individual's lips. The term posterior teeth refers to premolars and molars, as opposed to incisors and canines, which are anterior teeth;

• Quadrant - The arrangement of teeth in a mouth is divided into four quarters. Upper and lower sets of teeth form an oval, which is divided into quadrants:

- Upper right quadrant: upper right first incisor to upper right wisdom tooth;

- Upper left quadrant: upper left first incisor to upper left wisdom tooth;

- Lower right quadrant: lower right first incisor to lower right wisdom tooth;

- Lower left quadrant: lower left first incisor to lower left wisdom tooth; and • Vestibular - The side of a tooth that is adjacent to (or the direction towards) the inside of the cheeks and lips, as opposed palatal, which refers to the side of a tooth adjacent to the palate.

Addionally, reference is made to monitoring acceleration. In at least some implementations, a device used to measure acceleration is termed an “accelerometer”. The terms “acceleration measurement”, “acceleration monitoring” and the like include use of devices known as “accelerometers”. The terms may be used interchangeably depending on context.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the mouth-guard 10 comprises a body 12 that defines a formation to be located around at least a portion of maxillary teeth of a wearer (i.e. teeth in the upper jaw of the wearer - hereinafter “upper teeth”), to cover, surround, and/or envelope the upper teeth of the wearer.

The body 12, formed from a plastics, resin, and/or rubber material, comprises a first wall 14 configured to cover at least a portion of an outer surface of the upper teeth of the wearer (i.e. the surface of the upper teeth that faces the inside of the upper lip and the cheek). In dentistry terminology this surface is known as a vestibular surface.

The body 12 comprises a second wall 16 configured to cover at least a portion of an inner surface of the upper teeth of the wearer (i.e. the surface of the upper teeth that faces the palate). In dentistry terminology this surface is known as a palatal surface.

The body 12 comprises a third wall 18 connecting the first and second walls 14, 16 and configured to cover at least a portion of biting edges and chewing surfaces of the upper teeth of the wearer (i.e. the edges and surfaces of the upper teeth that are opposed to the lower teeth). In dentistry terminology, these surfaces are known as incisal and occlusal surfaces.

The first, second and third walls 14, 16, 18 of body 12 define a channel 20 for receiving a plurality of teeth of a wearer. In the illustrated examples of Figs. 1 and 2, the channel 20 is structured such that, when worn, it covers teeth that include the incisors of a wearer when the mouth-guard 10 is inserted.

In plan view, the body 12 of the mouth-guard 10 presents a generally symmetrical U-shaped configuration with “arms” extending away from a mid-line (denoted by dashed line 22 in Figs. 1 and 2). The first, second and third walls 14, 16, 18 in one arm define a portion of the channel 20 that can receive teeth of an upper left quadrant. The first, second and third walls 14, 16, 18 in the other arm define a portion of the channel 20 that can receive teeth of an upper right quadrant.

The mouth-guard 10 also defines an open area 24, located between the two arms, which can allow a tongue of the wearer to touch their upper palate when the mouth-guard 10 is being worn. This may allow the user to maintain verbal communication with other participants (e.g. teammates) without requiring removal of the mouth-guard.

The mouth-guard 10 includes a power source 26 (e.g. an electrical power battery) that is electrically connected to a system for monitoring acceleration 28. Typically, the power source 26 is of a type compatible with a wireless charger to allow recharging of the power source, i.e. the power source 26 may be wirelessly rechargeable, which allows the power source 26 to be charged/recharged without requiring removal from the mouth-guard 10.

In the illustrated example of Fig. 1, the power source 26 and system for monitoring acceleration 28 are located in a portion of the same arm of the mouthguard. The portion in which they are located is in a distal direction from the mid-line 22. The power source 26 is located in the second wall 16 and the system for monitoring acceleration 28 is located in the first wall 14. The power source 26 and system for monitoring acceleration 28 are electrically connected using a suitable connection (not shown) that runs from the power source 26, through the third wall 18 to the system for monitoring acceleration 28.

Locating the power source 26 and system for monitoring acceleration 28 in a distal direction away from the mid-line 22 (i.e. so that these components are located in a portion of the mouth-guard 10 that is located in a rear part of the mouth of the wearer, when worn) may reduce the likelihood of damage to the power source 26, system for monitoring acceleration 28 and/or teeth when the wearer sustains an impact. For instance, if the wearer undergoes a collision where a point of impact is at the front of the face of the wearer (e.g. at, or around, the mid-line of the upper teeth of the wearer), then damage to the power source 26 and/or system for monitoring acceleration 28 may be inhibited, because these components are located at positions away from the point of impact. Locating the power source 26 and/or system for monitoring acceleration 28 away from points of likely impact may reduce the likelihood of damage to teeth, because the “hard” bodies making up the housings of the power source 26 and/or system for monitoring acceleration 28 are in positions where they are less likely to be forced into the teeth.

Optionally, the power source 26 and/or system for monitoring acceleration 28 may be located in a different area of the mouth-guard 10 in one or more embodiments. Fig. 2 illustrates another example, in which the power source 26 and system for monitoring acceleration 28 are, again, located in a portion of the same arm of the mouth-guard. The portion in which they are located is in a distal direction from the mid-line 22. However, in the example illustrated in Fig. 2, both the power source 26 and the system for monitoring acceleration 28 are located in the second wall 18.

In a mouth-guard 10 of the type illustrated in Fig. 2, likelihood of damage to the power source 26 and/or system for monitoring acceleration 28 when the wearer sustains an impact to the head may be reduced not only because the power source 26 and system for monitoring acceleration 28 are located in the mouth-guard 10 in a distal direction away from the mid-line 22 (i.e. so that these components are located in a portion of the mouth-guard 10 that is located in a rear part of the mouth of the wearer, when worn), but also because the power source 26 and system for monitoring acceleration 28 are located in a portion of the mouth-guard 10 that is locatable inside (i.e. on a palatal side of) the upper teeth. The teeth themselves can serve as a barrier to offer a level of protection to the components. In addition to the potential to inhibit damage during frontal impacts, the location of the components in the example of Fig. 2 may, in an instance where the wearer undergoes a collision where a point of impact is at the side of the face, inhibit damage to the power source 26 and/or system for monitoring acceleration 28, because these components are located at positions in which they are shielded, at least in part, by the teeth of the wearer.

In the illustrated examples of Figs. 1 and 2, the components of the mouthguard 10, described above, are encapsulated (i.e. wholly embedded) within material forming the mouth-guard 10.

Fig. 3 illustrates a system 30 for providing a monitoring environment for monitoring acceleration sustained by participants in a sporting event.

The system 30 operates to aggregate data representative of acceleration that occurs during impact events, the data being received from systems for monitoring acceleration 28 in mouth-guards 10 worn by game participants. The data can be conveyed to technicians, via the system, for assessing the seriousness of one or more impact events.

The system 30 comprises a monitoring station 32 that is in wireless communication with one or more systems for monitoring acceleration 28. The monitoring station 32 can communicate data received from the one or more systems for monitoring acceleration 28 to one or more devices (not shown in Fig. 3 - see Fig. 5) either wirelessly or by wired communication link.

The monitoring station 32 includes a processor 34, a user interface 36, memory 38, and a transceiver 40. The monitoring station 32 wirelessly receives data representative of accelerations experienced by participants from each of the systems for monitoring acceleration 28. Signals from each of the systems for monitoring acceleration 28 are received at an antenna 42 coupled to the transceiver 40. The received signals are passed to the processor 34, which operates to process the data. Processed data is communicated to memory 38 for storage and can also be communicated to user interface 36, which is configured for communicating the data to a display device (e.g. via a communications network).

Fig. 4 illustrates components of the mouth-guard 10 (e.g. the power source 26 and the system for monitoring acceleration 28) in more detail.

The system for monitoring acceleration 28 comprises an acceleration monitoring unit 44, a memory 46 and a transceiver 48. The acceleration monitoring unit 44 is operative to monitor acceleration experienced by a wearer of the mouthguard 10, and is electrically coupled to the memory 46, which serves to store data representative of acceleration monitored by the acceleration monitoring unit 44. The acceleration monitoring unit 44 is also electrically coupled to the transceiver 48, which is operative to communicate a data signal containing data representative of acceleration monitored by the system for monitoring acceleration to the monitoring station 32 via antenna 50. Data can also be received by the system for monitoring acceleration 28 from an external source via the antenna 50 and transceiver 48. Received data may comprise, for example, a negative-acknowledgement signal (e.g. to indicate an error in data previously sent from the system for monitoring acceleration 28 and to request that the data be re-sent), software updates, etc.

The acceleration monitoring unit 44 comprises a three axis linear accelerometer 52, an gyroscope unit 54 and a processor 56. Each of the acceleration monitoring unit 44 and the gyroscope unit 54 are communicatively coupled to the processor 56 by way of Inter-Integrated Circuit (l²C) buses 58, 60 respectively.

The accelerometer 52 is operative to monitor linear accelerations of the mouth-guard 10. The accelerometer 52 is operative to measure a linear acceleration in each orthogonal direction (x, y, z), e.g. of a Cartesian coordinate reference frame. A combination of respective acceleration values may be used to derive a linear acceleration vector.

The gyroscope unit 54 is operative to measure angular velocity to provide data representative of angular rotation. The gyroscope unit 54 is operative to measure angular velocity with respect to each orthogonal direction (x, y, z), e.g. of a Cartesian coordinate reference frame. A combination of respective angular velocity values may be used to derive a angular velocity vector.

The accelerometer 52 and gyroscope unit 54 are operative to monitor attributes of the environment of the mouth-guard 10 over time to determine a linear acceleration of the system for monitoring acceleration 28 and an angular velocity of the system for monitoring acceleration 28. Using data indicative of linear acceleration and angular velocity, which is communicated to the processor 56, the processor 56 is able to determine the fact of an event causing acceleration of a particular magnitude and a rotation. This data can be used in the system for monitoring acceleration 28 and/or the monitoring station 32, to calculate a vector representative of a magnitude of the linear acceleration and a vector representative of an angular velocity experienced by the system for monitoring acceleration 28.

Fig. 5 illustrates an impact assessment system 68 where impacts sustained by participants may be detected, recorded, analysed, and reviewed, and Fig. 6 illustrates an example environment where the impact assessment system of Fig. 5 may be employed.

The impact assessment system 68 is operative to aggregate data representative of acceleration experienced by participants, i.e. the data received from the systems for monitoring acceleration 28 in mouth-guards 10 worn by participants, and can make the data available to relevant parties.

One or more participants are fitted with a mouth-guard 10 comprising a system for monitoring acceleration 28 as described above. A monitoring station 32 (as described above) is located near to a field-of play so as to be within communication range of each system for monitoring acceleration 28. The monitoring station 32 is operative to receive data signals from each system for monitoring acceleration 28, with such data signals comprising data representative of acceleration experienced by each participant fitted with the mouth-guard 10.

The monitoring station 32 is in wireless communication with the one or more systems for monitoring acceleration 28 in the mouth-guards 10.

The monitoring station 32 is optionally in wired or wireless communication with a network 70 (e.g. a public or private data network). The network 70 is communicatively coupled (wired and/or wirelessly) to a database 72 and/or one or more user devices (such as, for example, a computer 74, a tablet device 76 and/or a smartphone 78).

Data received by the monitoring station 32 is analysed and converted to a format that is suitable for presentation via a display of the one or more user devices. Data presented in this manner can be analysed by a technician 82 (see Fig. 6) to assess participant well-being and, based upon the data, to make a determination whether or not a participant should be removed from the field-of-play 80 (see Fig. 6) following an impact event, or may continue to participate.

Also, data received by the monitoring station is communicated to the database 72 for storage. Data stored in this manner may be retrievable at a later time for review by a technician.

The antenna 42 (see Fig. 6) of the monitoring station 32 is located in proximity to a field-of-play 80 so as to receive data signals from systems for monitoring accelerationwithin mouth-guards 10 worn by participants on the field-of-play 80.

The antenna 42 of the monitoring station 32, in an example, comprises a directional dual-polarized antenna positioned such that it is configured for the reception of data signals from the systems for monitoring acceleration within mouthguards 10, regardless of their physical orientation.

Typically, the directional dual-polarized antenna is configured to favour receipt of signals from systems for monitoring acceleration within mouth-guards 10 on the field-of-play 80 rather than from systems off the field-of-play, such as, for example, those worn and/or carried by potential participants (e.g. substitutes, or reserves), coaches, and/or other team staff located on the side-line of the field-of-play 80.

The antenna 42 typically comprises an omni-directional antenna capable of receiving signals so as to provide coverage of an entire field-of-play 80.

The system for monitoring acceleration 28 is typically formed from components mounted on a printed circuit board. The dimensions of the system for monitoring acceleration are optimised to achieve as small a foot-print as possible. This is to improve the integrity of a portion of the mouth-guard 10 where the system for monitoring acceleration 28 is located.

As will be appreciated, the system for monitoring acceleration 28, when encapsulated within material of the mouth-guard 10, is effectively sandwiched between material extending inwardly from a first surface of a wall in which the system for monitoring acceleration 28 is encapsulated and material extending inwardly from a second, opposed surface of the wall in which the system for monitoring acceleration 28 is encapsulated. A larger surface area of the system for monitoring acceleration 28 decreases the amount of material in contact between the opposed first and second surfaces. Therefore, by optimising the dimensions of the system for monitoring acceleration 28, so as to decrease the foot-print, there will be an increase in the amount of material in contact between the opposed first and second surfaces. As a result, a weakness of the portion of the mouth-guard 10 where the system for monitoring acceleration 28 is encapsulated may be reduced (includes reduced air pockets and delamination). Thus, instances of failure of this portion during an impact (e.g. when a wearer may clench together the teeth of the upper and lower jaws, thereby increasing pressure on the mouth-guard 10) may be reduced.

Minimising the footprint of electronic components of the system for monitoring acceleration and boards carrying them may improve the integrity of the mouth-guard 10, because the volume of the mouth-guard 10 that is not occupied by material from which the mouth-guard 10 is formed is minimised. In particular, the space between external surfaces (i.e. first and second surfaces) of the wall of the mouth-guard 10 in which the system for monitoring acceleration 28 is encapsulated may be lessened, if the circuit board is smaller. This may improve the creation of a vacuum in the vacuum forming process and thus improve integrity of the mouth-guard 10. Specific implementations may include splitting the circuit board up to have smaller circuit board elements. Thus, although the system for monitoring acceleration 28 is represented by a single unit in the figures, it may, in optional arrangements, comprise multiple units, which are electrically coupled.

Also, minimising the footprint of electronic components of the system for monitoring force and boards carrying them may provide for a more comfortable mouth-guard, because there are smaller deformities (from the electronic components) compared with known types of mouth-guards.

In the above described one or more embodiments data representative of impact events is transmitted to the monitoring station in real-time. However, optionally the data may be stored in memory on-board the mouth-guard for transmission at particular intervals, or may be stored for download at a later time.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the acceleration monitoring unit 44 comprises a gyroscope unit 54. However, optionally the gyroscope 54 may be replaced by an inertial measurement unit comprising a gyroscope, a magnetometer, and an accelerometer. An inertial measurement unit of this nature may be available in a single package and may comprise an LSM9DS1 microelectromechanical system (MEMS) from an iNEMO inertial module range, produced by STMicroelectronics of 39, Chemin du Champ des Filles Plan-LesOuates, Geneva, CH 1228, Switzerland.

Optionally, the accelerometer 52 of acceleration monitoring unit 44 comprises a H3LIS331DL MEMS motion sensor produced by STMicroelectronics of 39, Chemin du Champ des Filles Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva, CH 1228, Switzerland.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the first, second and third walls 14, 16, 18 of body 12 define a channel 20 for receiving a plurality of teeth of a wearer, with the channel 20 structured so as to cover teeth that include the incisors of a wearer when the mouth-guard 10 is inserted. Optionally, it may be desirable to cover only parts of at least one of vestibular, palatal, incisal and occlusal surfaces in other arrangements, and so the mouth-guard may be configured to provide appropriate levels of surface cover as required.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the mouth-guard 10 comprises a body 12 that defines a formation to be located around at least a portion of maxillary teeth of a wearer (i.e. teeth in the upper jaw of the wearer), to cover, surround, and/or envelope the upper teeth of the wearer. Optionally, the mouthguard 10 may comprise a body that defines a formation to be located around at least a portion of mandibular teeth of a wearer (i.e. teeth in the lower jaw of the wearer), to cover, surround, and/or envelope the lower teeth of the wearer. Further optionally, the mouth-guard 10 may be locatable around at least a portion of both maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the mouth-guard 10 comprises an open area 24. Optionally, the space between the two arms may comprise a solid portion that covers the upper palate.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the memory 46 and transceiver 48 are shown as separate units from the acceleration monitoring unit 44. Optionally, the memory 46 and transceiver 48 may form part of a same device as the acceleration monitoring unit 44, e.g. a single unit comprising the acceleration monitoring unit 44, the memory 46 and the transceiver 48. Further optionally, the accelerometer 52, gyroscope unit 54, processor 56, memory 46 and transceiver 48 may be combined on multiple units in any combination. Yet further optionally, the accelerometer 52, gyroscope unit 54, processor 56, memory 46 and transceiver 48 may comprise individual, discrete units.

In the above described one or more embodiments, each of the acceleration monitoring unit 44 and the gyroscope unit 54 are communicatively coupled to the processor 56 by way of Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) buses 58, 60 respectively. Optionally, communicative coupling of the acceleration monitoring unit 44 and the gyroscope unit 54 to the processor 56 may be by any other suitable communication interface, e.g. Serial Peripheral Interface bus.

In the above described one or more embodiments, system for monitoring acceleration 28 is typically formed from components mounted on a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board may optionally comprise a flex-printed circuit and/or a rigid circuit board. In an optional arrangement, the printed circuit board may comprise both flexible portions and rigid portions, e.g. components of the system mounted on rigid portions with rigid portions connected to one another by flexible portions (i.e. a flex-rigid arrangement). In another optional arrangement, the printed circuit board may comprise both rigid portions on which components of the system are mounted, with the rigid portions connected to one another by flexible electrical wire.

Optionally, the memory 46 may comprise flash memory and/or RAM and/or ROM.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the power source 26 and system for monitoring acceleration 28 are located in a portion of the same arm of the mouth-guard. Optionally, they may be located in different arms of the mouth-guard. Further optionally, there may be a plurality of power sources and/or systems for monitoring acceleration located in the mouth-guard in the same arm, different arms, or both arms. Yet further optionally, the power source 26 and system for monitoring acceleration 28 may be located in the same wall in the same arm, different walls in the same arm, the same wall in different arms, or different walls in different arms.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the components of the mouth-guard are encapsulated (i.e. wholly embedded) within material forming the mouth-guard 10. Optionally, one or more of the components may be embedded, or partially encapsulated in the material forming the mouth-guard 10. Further optionally, the one or more components may be encapsulated within a second material, optionally a medically inert material (e.g. parylene C). The one or more components encapsulated with the second material may be partially embedded, or wholly embedded, within the material forming the mouth-guard 10.

Although the acceleration monitoring unit 44 includes a three axis accelerometer 52 and a three axis gyroscope unit 54 in the one or more embodiments described above, optionally other acceleration monitoring components may be used in other embodiments. For example, a two axis gyroscope in combination with a single axis gyroscope may be used instead of a three axis gyroscope. Also, a two axis accelerometer in combination with a single axis accelerometer may be used instead of a three axis accelerometer. Further, additional linear accelerometers may be used instead of a gyroscope.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the system for monitoring acceleration 28 and power source 26 may comprise separate elements, which are electrically connected by a connection lead. Optionally, the connection lead may comprise the antenna 50 of the system for monitoring acceleration 28, there being a high frequency/radio frequency coupling to the connection lead.

In the above described one or more embodiments, the antenna 42 comprises an omni-directional antenna so as to provide coverage of an entire field-of-play. Optionally, other antennas may be used e.g. with a narrower range of receiving angles. For example, multiple antennas with directionalities that individually do not allow for reception of signals from the entire field-of-play, but in combination receive signals from the entire field-of play may be used. For example, four antennas located at each comer of the field-of-play may be used to cover the entire field. This arrangement may also provide redundancy in the system so that, if a signal fails to be received by a closest antenna, it could, potentially, be received by another one of the four antennas.

All references made herein to orientation (e.g. front, rear, upper, lower, anterior and posterior) are made for the purposes of describing relative spatial arrangements of features, and are not intended to be limiting in any sense.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the drawings are merely diagrammatic and that further items of equipment may be required in a commercial apparatus. The position of such ancillary items of equipment forms no part of the present invention and is in accordance with conventional practice in the art.

Insofar as embodiments of the invention described above are implementable, at least in part, using a software-controlled programmable processing device such as a general purpose processor or special-purposes processor, digital signal processor, microprocessor, or other processing device, data processing apparatus or computer system it will be appreciated that a computer program for configuring a programmable device, apparatus or system to implement methods and apparatus is envisaged as an aspect of the present invention. The computer program may be embodied as any suitable type of code, such as source code, object code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. The instructions may be implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, objectoriented, visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language, such as, Liberate, OCAP, MHP, Flash, HTML and associated languages, JavaScript, PHP, C, C++, Python, Nodejs, Java, BASIC, Perl, Matlab, Pascal, Visual BASIC, ActiveX, assembly language, machine code, and so forth. A skilled person would readily understand that term “computer” in its most general sense encompasses programmable devices such as referred to above, and data processing apparatus and computer systems.

Suitably, the computer program is stored on a carrier medium in machine readable form, for example the carrier medium may comprise memory, removable or non-removable media, erasable or non-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media, digital or analog media, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), Company Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW), optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-optical media, removable memory cards or disks, various types of Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) subscriber identity module, tape, cassette solid-state memory.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components of the invention. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

For example, although embodiments have been described in which impact event data may be transmitted to a monitoring station in real-time, impact event data may be stored and downloaded wirelessly, or by wired coupling, at breaks in a match, e.g. half-time, or at the end of the match. This may be particularly suitable for non-professional environments and download may be to a device such as a smartphone or other mobile communication device running a suitable application.

One or more embodiments have been described in the context of acceleration monitoring. Optionally, monitoring circuitry, power sources and transmitter and/or receiver circuitry may be included for monitoring other factors such as, for example, physiological data, for example, hydration, temperature, electrolyte levels, amongst other things.

The scope of the present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed therein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalisation thereof 5 irrespective of whether or not it relates to the claimed invention or mitigate against any or all of the problems addressed by the present invention. The applicant hereby gives notice that new claims may be formulated to such features during prosecution of this application or of any such further application derived therefrom. In particular, with reference to the appended claims, features from dependent claims may be 10 combined with those of the independent claims and features from respective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate manner and not merely in specific combinations enumerated in the claims.

Claims

1. A mouth-guard for detecting acceleration experienced by a head of a wearer, the mouth-guard comprising:

a body comprising a formation for extending around at least a portion of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer and configured for location against at least a portion of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth at least at one of:

an anterior teeth region of a mouth of the wearer;

a posterior teeth region of a mouth of the wearer; and a position between the anterior and posterior teeth regions of a mouth of the wearer;

a system for monitoring acceleration experienced by the mouth-guard and operative to communicate acceleration data to a monitoring station;

a power source electrically coupled to the system for monitoring acceleration and for providing power thereto;

wherein the power source is embedded within material of the body and is located within a region of the body that is locatable at a posterior teeth region of a mouth of a wearer, and further wherein the system for monitoring acceleration is embedded within the material of the body and is located within a region of the body that is locatable at a posterior teeth region of a mouth of a wearer.

2. A mouth-guard according to claim 1, wherein the formation comprises a trench in which at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer are locatable, the trench defined by:

a first wall configured to cover at least a portion of a vestibular surface of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer;

a second wall configured to cover at least a portion of a palatal surface of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer; and a third wall connecting the first and second walls and configured to cover at least a portion of incisal and occlusal surfaces of at least one of maxillary and mandibular teeth of a wearer.

3. A mouth-guard according to claim 2, wherein the power source is embedded within material of the second wall.

4. A mouth-guard according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the system for monitoring acceleration is embedded within material of the second wall.

5. A mouth-guard according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the system for monitoring acceleration is embedded within material of the first wall.

6. A mouth-guard according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the power source and/or the system for monitoring acceleration are encapsulated in an inert material.

7. A mouth-guard according to claim 6, wherein the inert material comprises parylene C.

8. A mouth-guard according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the power source and/or the system for monitoring acceleration are encapsulated in material of the body.

9. A mouth-guard according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein an antenna of the system for monitoring acceleration is located remote from the system for monitoring acceleration towards, or at, a region of the formation locatable against an anterior teeth region of the wearer.

10. A mouth-guard according to claim 9, when directly or indirectly dependent upon claim 2, wherein the antenna is embedded within the protective material of the first wall.

11. A mouth-guard according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system for monitoring acceleration and the power source comprise separate discrete elements.

12. A mouth-guard according to claim 11, wherein the system for monitoring acceleration and the power source are electrically connected by a connection lead.

13. A mouth-guard according to claim 12, wherein the connection lead comprises an antenna of the system for monitoring acceleration.

14. A mouth-guard according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of:

dimensions of components of the system for monitoring acceleration; dimensions of a circuit board upon which the system for monitoring acceleration is disposed;

an arrangement and/or configuration of components of the system for monitoring acceleration upon a circuit board upon which the system for monitoring acceleration is disposed, are optimised and/or reduced to reduce a volume and/or footprint of the system for monitoring acceleration.

15. A device for wearing in the mouth for measuring physiological data, the device comprising:

a formation for location against at least a portion of at least one maxillary tooth and/or at least one mandibular tooth of a wearer;

monitoring circuitry for monitoring physiological data, the monitoring circuitry embedded within material of the formation; and a power source for providing power to the monitoring circuitry, the power source embedded within material of the formation.

16. A device according to claim 15, further comprising a transmitter communicatively coupled to the monitoring circuitry and operative to transmit physiological data received from the monitoring circuitry to a remote device.

17. A device according to claim 15 or 16, further comprising a receiver communicatively coupled to the monitoring circuitry and operative to communicate received data from a remote device to the monitoring circuitry.

18. A device according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein said physiological data comprises at least one of: hydration; temperature; and electrolyte levels.