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Not often does one’s mind equate soldiers in combat with hockey players in a game. On second thought, perhaps one might. In fact, one person who might make that connection quite seamlessly would possibly be Impakt Protective Inc. CEO Danny Crossman.

Crossman has successfully applied his 10 years experience in explosives disposal with the British Army and his 11 years in the protective equipment industry to his post at the helm of one of the world’s most innovative producers of protective sensor solutions. You might say that Crossman is no stranger to innovation. In 2006, he developed first helmet mounted impact recorder for combat helmets for US Army and Marines. But not to worry, as Crossman points out, you don’t require combat training to use Impakt Protective’s products. “The sensors are designed to be sold aftermarket and integrated onto the helmet by parents, trainers, or players as well as integrated into the helmet at manufacture/ assembly stage by the helmet manufacturer.”

Impakt Protective produces cost effective sensors that during game play, relays real-time Kinetic information using proprietary software. A prime example of this is Impakt Protective’s ShockboxTM. It is an impact indicator which gauges the force delivered to a player’s helmet and references that information against a set of test and clinical data on head acceleration injury prediction. “The sensor then sends a wireless data signal to a smart phone, PDA or PC showing the date/ time, direction of hit as well as the player unique ID.” says Crossman.

This past year, the topic of concussions in sport has gained traction in the North American media. Nowhere has this been more prevalent than in the National Hockey League. In recent months, the discussions surrounding the concussion epidemic in professional hockey has increased as it’s star player, Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins captain), had been on the sidelines due to a head injury sustained during game play. Although there may not be a helmet that can prevent a concussion, teams can at minimum measure the impact to a player. Crossman points out that the advancements in athletic injury assessment technology, is to identify when a potential concussion has occurred. “Impakt sensors are not medical devices, but they provide an “observer” role in the team by triggering the standard concussion protocol, SCAT2, ImPACT testing or physician diagnosis.” Impakt Protective provides teams with the technological tools necessary to diagnose concussions much more accurately than ever before and mitigate prolonged injury to their most important asset- the players. “The player, coach, parent or trainer (or team physician) is the ultimate decision maker in all concussion events. The ShockboxTM technology is a tool in their kit to be able to evaluate concussed players.” says Crossman. “Since many players and coaches have a hard time diagnosing concussions, the ShockboxTM simply provides another indicator to force the diagnosis.”

Injury assessment technology is not a new concept, but has been gaining more attention as of late with the increased public awareness of concussions in contact sports. There continues to be a hesitation by professional sports organizations to implement such assessment technologies. Crossman concludes that injury assessment has long been a difficult science to master. It is precisely this complication Impakt is aimed at simplifying. “Injury assessment is a fickle science due to the variances of individual brain physiology, concussion history and so on and for this reason, ShockboxTM does not attempt to assess an injury in the player – that is a sports physicians job.” he said. “ShockboxTM technology aims to create the basic data needed to alert players and coaches to start the approved concussion management processes. It is this process that currently lacks in many minor league teams due to inexperience or other pressures.”

Crossman highlights the importance of working in partnership other industry leaders to provide technological solutions to sports injury analysis.” In working with leading Biomechanics and Neurosurgical institutes, we see an industry collaborative approach to developing technologies that can actually diagnose and predict concussions using technology. This would be the future of sports injury prediction, but it cannot likely be done by one company alone.”

Digress to the original notion that some might equate soldiers with athletes. How does a technology such as the ShockboxTM influence contact sports such as hockey and football, where for the most part, pressure to succeed at all costs plays a large role in a player’s decision to “battle through” an injury? Crossman says that the success of the technology hinges upon its acceptance by teams. “The ShockboxTM technology has to follow the sports culture, otherwise it will not get used by payers or teams. By integrating the sensor as a wireless system that communicates directly to off the shelf smart phones or PCs, the teams can use the technology the way that best suits their needs.”

Crossman also considers providing Impakt’s technological services to make sports more entertaining and interactive.”Impakt’s future direction is to develop sensors that can track a range of sports performance and analytics that aide coaches to gauge performance improvement and for players to use in social media.” He added that in Fall 2011, “Impakt will release the full retail wireless ShockboxTM impact sensor available online and in stores throughout North America.”