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Smart mouth guards not so smart?

In 2024, World Rugby made using instrumented mouth guards mandatory for elite-level competition. And for good reason.

A recent review of studies measuring concussion incidence between 2014 and 2025 in the Rugby Union concludes that 9.74 concussions occur per 1,000 player hours. And repetitive head injury has been shown to lead to eventual cognitive complications.

Basically, more serious bonks on the head means players are more likely to suffer later in life.

But do these mouth guards work?

They do, but a new study from University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka in New Zealand reveals they don’t work effectively for everyone.

“The problem is that almost every commercial system uses a one-size-fits-all approach, assuming every player has the same head as a 50th-percentile adult male, whether they’re a 10-year-old girl or a 130kg premier men’s player,” says Melanie Bussey of Otago’s School of Physical Education Sport and Exercise Sciences.

CAPTION: Rugby scrum IMAGE: Shutterstock

She calls for the sports-tech industry and researchers to account for people of different sex, age and size when designing and collating statistics on the impact of such preventative wearables.

When testing a more inclusive head model for females, the injury risk score changed by nearly 54 percent. Other testing models were adapted for weight and showed significant differences. These results also impact on the indicators of whether individuals were high-risk, which is a highly notable preventative measure.

Bussey, lead author on the paper, says this is a simple fix.

“If we want smart mouth guards to improve safety across the whole game, then the modeling behind them needs to be inclusive. Accurate monitoring is not just about better technology. It is about making sure that technology works for everyone.”

More like this: Putting the pressure on injury prevention

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I think I’ll wear my robot

The world of wearable tech is continually expanding — from heart rate to glucose monitors, but is a wearable robot possible? It seems so.

A group of South Korean scientists have designed an exosuit made of fabric weighing less than half a kilogram to help people with neuromuscular diseases like Duchenne muscular dystrophy move their arms with ease.

Just like real muscles, the tiny springs made of smart metal inside contract and relax with heat. The suit has the look and feel of real clothing and can be controlled with a smartphone app to adapt support levels.

Eight people have tested the suit and have reported 50 percent improved shoulder movement and 20 percent less difficulty performing daily tasks.

Muscle strain was also reduced, meaning users needed less effort to move.

The research team aims to make the suit smarter and able to naturally respond to the wearer’s motions.

The research was published in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

More like this: Wearable tech helps protect workers from heatstroke

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Squeeze those hydrogels

A research team from Japan and France has developed a new sort of mechanophore, a molecule that jumps into action when it experiences force, kind of like an assistant inside the softer hydrogel that wakes up to help and make them stronger.

It’s all thanks to a naturally derived molecule called camphanediol. This molecule is tough in the heat, steady under UV light and ready to react when squeezed. Most mechanophores break down easily or need delicate chemical setups to work — but not this one.

When camphanediol gets stretched or pulled inside a hydrogel, it snaps certain chemical bonds in a very specific way. This releases mechanoradicals — tiny chemical sparks that can start new reactions. These sparks reinforce the material, similar to rebuilding muscle after a workout.

Tests showed that hydrogels with camphanediol generated over four times more of these strengthening sparks than regular versions. Additionally, the more it was stressed, the stronger it got, without resulting damage.

The findings could lead to smart materials that adapt and increase resilience on the fly, perfect for soft robots, medical devices and wearable tech.

The paper was published in Chemical Science.

More like this: Thirsty? Science hops to it

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Wearable tech helps protect
workers from heat stroke

Between 1992 and 2017, 815 American workers died and another 70,000 were seriously injured from heat stress, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But new wearable tech could make laboring outdoors much safer.

American company Kenzen developed a device that attaches to a strap a worker can wear on the upper arm, similar to one a runner might use to carry a phone. It measures the wearer’s core body temperature; heart rate; how much the worker sweats; and level of activity. The device indicates in real time if the wearer is in danger of heat stroke and is used as a preventative tool.

A signal sent to the wearer and any nearby health and safety managers indicates the worker needs a break. The detailed health information, however, is sent to only the wearer in order to maintain privacy. The data is stored in the cloud so companies can analyze patterns and adapt work schedules.

UAE-based Emirates Global Aluminium ran a trial on the device with 50 employees in summer 2022, CNN reports.

Without these factors in place, wearable technology on its own cannot eliminate the risk of heat-related illness for people working outside.

– Salman Abdulla, Emirates Global Aluminium

Salman Abdulla. CREDIT: Emirates Global Aluminium

Though the data from the trial is still in review, the metal producer reports that the device did well maintaining connectivity in difficult areas and fared well in terms of comfort. Additionally, they were able to identify increases in susceptibility to heat-related illnesses at the end of the day and if the wearer was fatigued prior to beginning a shift.

The company managed zero heat-related illnesses so far in 2022 and will continue to examine what role the device played in this result. The first year without heat-related incidents for the company was 2019. Emirates Global Aluminium is the largest industrial company in the UAE outside of the oil and gas sector.

“This is complementary to the decades of work we have done on heat-stress, which focuses on providing workers with knowledge to actively care for themselves and others around them, empowering them to take action when they have a concern, and providing the tools and resources they need to take that action. Without these factors in place, wearable technology on its own cannot eliminate the risk of heat-related illness for people working outside,” Salman Abdulla, the company’s executive vice president for environment, health, safety and sustainability, tells KUST Review.

Wearable safety technology includes smart helmets, smart footwear, exoskeletons and smart safety vests.