World Rugby plans to invest $2.1 million on "smart" mouthguard technology that can detect brain injuries sustained by players during games, according to a report published on October 9 by the Associated Press.
The mouthguards measure "the force of head impacts in real time" and deliver alerts to game day doctors when players experience "a high level of acceleration which could lead to an injury," the report said. The technology allows players who may not yet show symptoms of head trauma to be removed from play and evaluated via the organization's head injury assessment protocol.
The mouthguard technology will be used in training and matches, according to World Rugby. It will be used for the first time in the upcoming women's international rugby union competition, AP said.
"The advances in smart mouthguard technology mean elite players will be better cared for than ever before," World Rugby Chief Medical Officer Dr. Eanna Falvey said in the AP report. "We are taking smart mouthguards out of the realm of medical research and putting them into the world of everyday performance management to continue to manage player welfare in the best way possible."
