ASU football players volunteer for concussion study

PHOENIX — A new study is underway to try to find out how football hits can lead to concussions and some Arizona State University players have signed on to help out.

Some ASU players are voluntarily wearing helmets with special equipment that will gather information on the affects of football on the head.

“Built into the helmet are accelerometers that can detect the amount of force that is placed on the head and the acceleration,” said Tamara McLeod, an athletic training professor at A.T. Still University in Mesa. “It allows us to get biomechanical data about the types of hits that athletes are taking during the course of play.”

McLeod said the information from the helmet will be studied at the end of the season.

“We’re trying to evaluate the number of hits to the head, the magnitude of the forces to the head with some of these clinical measures that athletic trainers and other healthcare providers use to evaluate concussions,” she said.

The Riddell helmet company and researchers from TGen and the Barrow Neurological Institute are also involved in the study.