The National Football League has plans to place sensors in players' helmets to gauge the severity of head injuries as they happen, according to the Stars and Stripes.
This new effort by the NFL mirrors what the Army has been doing since 2007 - using helmet sensors to detect the effects of concussive force to the brain. The Stars and Stripes reports the Army plans to expand its program to 45,000 soldiers in the coming years.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email to Stars and Stripes:
“There is a tremendous amount of respect between the NFL and military communities, and we are working together to break down some of the stigma around reporting a head injury.”
Indeed, Home Post reported last month that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell met with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno in May at the Pentagon, to discuss their mutual concern about brain injuries. The meeting triggered subsequent meetings at the Pentagon with NFL players, military leaders, and medical experts.
Traumatic brain injury has been called the "signature wound" of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Different estimates show somewhere between 115,000 and 400,000 service members suffer from TBI.
