Head Acceleration Event Exposure During Elite Men's and Women's Rugby Union Training.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and magnitude of head acceleration events (HAEs) during elite men's and women's rugby union training for different contact training levels and drill types.

Method: Data were collected during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons from 203 men and 125 women from 13 clubs using instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) during in-season training. One author reviewed the training videos to identify the contact level and drill type.

Instrumented Mouthguards in Men's Rugby League: Quantifying the Incidence and Probability of Head Acceleration Events at a Group and Individual Level.

Background: There is growing concern that exposure to head acceleration events (HAEs) may be associated with long-term neurological effects.

Objectives: To quantify the incidence and probability of HAEs during men's professional rugby league match-play on a group and individual basis using instrumented mouthguards (iMGs).

Methods: A total of 91 men's professional rugby league players participating in the 2023 Super League season wore iMGs, resulting in the collection of 775 player matches (mean 8.

The 'Where, What, How and Who' of Head Accelerations in Rugby Union. Head Acceleration Events From Men's and Women's Northern and Southern Hemisphere Competitions.

This study aimed to quantify and compare mean head acceleration event (HAE) incidence within and between men's and women's rugby union competitions; quantify the incidence of HAEs during all contact-events and describe individual player incidence. Players competing during the 2022/2023 season in women's (337 players; Premiership Women's Rugby, Farah Palmer Cup) and men's (371 players; Premiership Rugby, Currie Cup and Super Rugby) competitions wore instrumented mouthguards (iMGs). Mean HAE incidences using peak linear (PLA) and peak angular acceleration (PAA) were quantified by sex, positional groups and individual players per competition and for contact-events across a range of magnitude thresholds.

Evaluating the Probability of Head Acceleration Events in Elite Men's and Women's Rugby Union Match-Play: The Impact of Tackle Height and Body Position.

Background: Head acceleration events (HAEs) are an increasing concern in collision sports owing to potential negative health outcomes.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe the probabilities of HAEs in tackles of differing heights and body positions in elite men's and women's rugby union.

Methods: Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) were worn in men's (n = 24 teams, 508 players, 782 observations) and women's (n = 26 teams, 350 players, 1080 observations) rugby union matches.

Spot the Difference? Contact Event Frequency During > 30,000 Women's and Men's Rugby Union Player Matches Across Top Domestic and International Competitions.

This study aimed to quantify the frequency of individual and team contact events during rugby union match play in top domestic and international men's and women's competitions. Analyst-coded player individual and team contact event types (tackles, carries, attacking rucks and defensive rucks, lineouts, scrums and mauls) from the 2022/2023 rugby union season were analysed from top domestic and international competitions across the world using generalised linear mixed models. For both women's and men's rugby, competitions generally had similar numbers of contact events per playing position.

Contact-events and associated head acceleration events in semi-elite women's rugby union: A competition-wide instrumented mouthguard study.

This study aimed to quantify contact-events and associated head acceleration event (HAE) probabilities in semi-elite women's rugby union. Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) were worn by players competing in the 2023 Farah Palmer Cup season (13 teams, 217 players) during 441 player-matches. Maximum peak linear acceleration (PLA) and peak angular acceleration (PAA) per-event were used as estimates of HAE (HAE), linked to video analysis-derived contact-events and analysed using mixed-effects regression.

Optimising Instrumented Mouthguard Data Analysis: Video Synchronisation Using a Cross-correlation Approach.

Purpose: Head acceleration events (HAEs) are a growing concern in contact sports, prompting two rugby governing bodies to mandate instrumented mouthguards (iMGs). This has resulted in an influx of data imposing financial and time constraints. This study presents two computational methods that leverage a dataset of video-coded match events: cross-correlation synchronisation aligns iMG data to a video recording, by providing playback timestamps for each HAE, enabling analysts to locate them in video footage; and post-synchronisation event matching identifies the coded match event (e.

Head Kinematics Associated with Off-Field Head Injury Assessment (HIA1) Events in a Season of English Elite-Level Club Men's and Women's Rugby Union Matches.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate head kinematic variables in elite men's and women's rugby union and their ability to predict player removal for an off-field (HIA1) head injury assessment.

Methods: Instrumented mouthguard (iMG) data were collected for 250 men and 132 women from 1865 and 807 player-matches, respectively, and synchronised to video-coded match footage. Head peak resultant linear acceleration (PLA), peak resultant angular acceleration (PAA) and peak change in angular velocity (dPAV) were extracted from each head acceleration event (HAE).

Training and Match-Related Head Acceleration Events in Top Level Domestic Senior Women's and Men's Rugby Union: A Multi-League Instrumented Mouthguard Study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the difference in head acceleration event (HAE) incidence between training and match-play in women's and men's players competing at the highest level of domestic rugby union globally. Players from Women's (Premiership Women's Rugby, Farah Palmer Cup) and Men's (Premiership Rugby, Currie Cup) rugby union competitions wore instrumented mouthguards during matches and training sessions during the 2022/2023 seasons. Peak linear (PLA) and angular (PAA) acceleration were calculated from each HAE and included within generalized linear mixed-effects models.

The application of match-event and instrumented mouthguard data to inform match limits: An example using rugby union Premiership and rugby league Super League data from England.

The study aimed to illustrate how contact (from match-event data) and head acceleration event (HAE) (from instrumented mouthguard [iMG]) data can be combined to inform match limits within rugby. Match-event data from one rugby union and rugby league season, including all competitive matches involving players from the English Premiership and Super League, were used. Playing exposure was summarised as full game equivalents (FGE; total minutes played/80).

Instrumented mouthguards in elite-level men's and women's rugby union: characterising tackle-based head acceleration events.

Objectives: To examine the propensity of tackle height and the number of tacklers that result in head acceleration events (HAEs) in elite-level male and female rugby tackles.

Methods: Instrumented mouthguard data were collected from women (n=67) and men (n=72) elite-level rugby players from five elite and three international teams. Peak linear acceleration and peak angular acceleration were extracted from HAEs.

The Incidence and Propensity of Head Acceleration Events in a Season of Men's and Women's English Elite-Level Club Rugby Union Matches.

Objectives: To describe and compare the incidence and propensity of head acceleration events (HAEs) using instrumented mouthguards (iMG) by playing position in a season of English elite-level men's and women's rugby union matches.

Methods: iMG data were collected for 255 men and 133 women from 1,865 and 807 player-matches, respectively, and synchronised to video-coded match footage. Head peak resultant linear acceleration (PLA) and peak resultant angular acceleration (PAA) were extracted from each HAE.

Embracing the impact from instrumented mouthguards (iMGs): A survey of iMG managers' perceptions of staff and player interest into the technology, data and barriers to use.

Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) are a novel technology being used within rugby to quantify head acceleration events. Understanding practitioners' perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to their use is important to support implementation and adoption. This study assessed men's and women's rugby union and league iMG managers' perceptions of staff and player interest in the technology, data and barriers to use.

Head Acceleration Events During Tackle, Ball-Carry, and Ruck Events in Professional Southern Hemisphere Men's Rugby Union Matches: A Study Using Instrumented Mouthguards.

Objectives: Describe head acceleration events (HAEs) experienced by professional male rugby union players during tackle, ball-carry, and ruck events using instrumented mouthguards (iMGs).

Design: Prospective observational cohort.

Methods: Players competing in the 2023 Currie Cup (141 players) and Super Rugby (66 players) seasons wore iMGs.

When to Pull the Trigger: Conceptual Considerations for Approximating Head Acceleration Events Using Instrumented Mouthguards.

Head acceleration events (HAEs) are acceleration responses of the head following external short-duration collisions. The potential risk of brain injury from a single high-magnitude HAE or repeated occurrences makes them a significant concern in sport. Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) can approximate HAEs.

Head Exposure to Acceleration Database in Sport (HEADSport): a kinematic signal processing method to enable instrumented mouthguard (iMG) field-based inter-study comparisons.

Objective: Instrumented mouthguard (iMG) systems use different signal processing approaches limiting field-based inter-study comparisons, especially when artefacts are present in the signal. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency content and characteristics of head kinematic signals from head impact reconstruction laboratory and field-based environments to develop an artefact attenuation filtering method (HEADSport filter method).

Methods: Laboratory impacts (n=72) on a test-dummy headform ranging from 25 to 150 g were conducted and 126 rugby union players were equipped with iMGs for 209 player-matches.

Instrumented Mouthguards in Elite-Level Men's and Women's Rugby Union: The Incidence and Propensity of Head Acceleration Events in Matches.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine head acceleration event (HAE) propensity and incidence during elite-level men's and women's rugby union matches.

Methods: Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) were fitted in 92 male and 72 female players from nine elite-level clubs and three international teams. Data were collected during 406 player matches (239 male, 167 female) using iMGs and video analysis.

Ready for impact? A validity and feasibility study of instrumented mouthguards (iMGs).

Objectives: Assess the validity and feasibility of current instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) and associated systems.

Methods: Phase I; four iMG systems (Biocore-Football Research Inc (FRI), HitIQ, ORB, Prevent) were compared against dummy headform laboratory criterion standards (25, 50, 75, 100 ). Phase II; four iMG systems were evaluated for on-field validity of iMG-triggered events against video-verification to determine true-positives, false-positives and false-negatives (20±9 player matches per iMG).

Quantification of Head Acceleration Events in Rugby League: An Instrumented Mouthguard and Video Analysis Pilot Study.

Instrumented mouthguards (iMG) were used to collect head acceleration events (HAE) in men's professional rugby league matches. Peak linear acceleration (PLA), peak angular acceleration (PAA) and peak change in angular velocity (ΔPAV) were collected using custom-fit iMG set with a 5 g single iMG-axis recording threshold. iMG were fitted to ten male Super League players for thirty-one player matches.

Quantifying head acceleration exposure via instrumented mouthguards (iMG): a validity and feasibility study protocol to inform iMG suitability for the TaCKLE project.

Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) have the potential to quantify head acceleration exposures in sport. The Rugby Football League is looking to deploy iMGs to quantify head acceleration exposures as part of the Tackle and Contact Kinematics, Loads and Exposure (TaCKLE) project. iMGs and associated software platforms are novel, thus limited validation studies exist.