Analysis of the protective capacity of ice hockey helmets in a concussion injury reconstruction

Concussion unfortunately is a common and serious injury in ice hockey, involving a large number of youth and pro level athletes. The purpose of this research was to examine the efficacy of ten ice hockey helmet models in protecting players. A head impact during a professional ice hockey game that resulted in a documented concussion was reconstructed in the laboratory. The impact parameters were determined from video analysis of the incident that resulted in a concussion. The event was reconstructed in the laboratory using mechanical impacts and finite element modelling. The performance of the ice hockey helmets was measured using peak linear and rotational acceleration. The acceleration time histories were used as input to the University College Dublin Brain Trauma Model to determine the maximum principal strain. The results demonstrated that the shell and liner design of the helmets influence the motion of the head during an impact. Low responses in peak resultant linear acceleration do not reflect low responses in peak resultant rotational acceleration. When comparing the helmets using maximum principal strain as the metric, there were differences between helmet models not reflected in the kinematic data. This suggests that the magnitude of strain is not fully represented by peak resultant linear and rotational acceleration. In addition, while the differences between the helmets' protective capacity were statistically significant, those differences would not have appreciably affected the likelihood of concussive injury in this reconstruction. This suggests that helmets in ice hockey currently may have similar protective capacities in terms of concussive injury.