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UNDERSTANDING IMPACT


US Lacrosse-funded accelerometer study at Princeton measures blows to college players’ heads as part of a comprehensive approach to concussion research


Princeton’s Erin McMunn has never


had a concussion. The junior attacker and Tewaaraton Award candidate has played lacrosse since fourth grade, and she does not believe women need to wear headgear. Nevertheless, as a participant in a US Lacrosse- funded concussion research project at Princeton,


data collected from McMunn’s exploits on the field could influence future deliberations about headgear, and possibly, rule changes in the game. McMunn and 19 of her teammates, along with 20 members of the Princeton men’s lacrosse team, volunteered this spring as subjects in a study that measures head impacts in practice and game settings. Through the use of a small accelerometer sensor placed behind the right ear, both linear and rotational head movements — measured as gravitational forces (or g-forces) and radians


A Publication of US Lacrosse


per second squared, respectively — are recorded on a microchip within each unit. The device also captures the frequency and location of impacts.


Information gleaned from the study will be analyzed to get a better understanding of what happens to a college lacrosse player’s head through the course of a season. “I’m very excited to be a part of the study, because I think this is an important issue in lacrosse,” McMunn said. The accelerometers measure all impacts that generate head movement, not just those impacts made directly to the head. Body-to-body contact and body-to-ground impact measurements also are recorded. A time measure is built into each device, allowing researchers to pinpoint when each specific force was captured within a practice or game. “Sometimes, when we see somebody get thumped, we wonder how that’s going to come out in terms of the measured force,” McMunn said.


May 2014 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 59


By Paul Ohanian


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