After losing his brother to undetected head trauma, a KAUST researcher helped design a sensor that instantly distinguishes minor bumps from dangerous blows.
A tiny sensor that detects hazardous head impacts the instant they occur could reshape safety monitoring in sports, transportation and other high-risk settings.
The device, developed by researchers at KAUST, acts like a safety switch that activates in response to sudden acceleration, sensing forces from any direction and gauging their severity in real time.
Roughly the size of a small fingernail, the sensor can be attached to football helmets, ski goggles, industrial hard hats or children’s headbands. Drawing no power in its normal standby state, it switches on only when a shock closes the internal electrical circuit through mechanical contact between the movable and fixed structures. This means the sensor can operate for long periods without draining the battery or requiring routine upkeep.
“It’s like a seatbelt for the brain,” says Yousef Algoos, an electromechanical engineer who built the device as a PhD student in the KAUST Robotics, Intelligent Systems, and Control Group led by Eric Feron. Algoos co-led the study together with Mohammad Younis from the State University of New York at Binghamton, United States.
“By combining omnidirectional precision, multi-threshold capability and passive operation, this innovation paves the way for next-generation wearable safety systems for concussion detection and impact monitoring in sports, transportation and daily life,” Algoos says. “There is no sensor on the market that offers this combination of features,” he adds.
Read more at KAUST Discovery.
