There hasn't been much innovation in the design of the protective mouth guard since it was invented around the turn of the 20th century.
Force Impact Technologies is looking to change that.
The startup built a prototype called the FitGuard, a "smart" mouth guard that detects when a player receives a hard hit. If a football player gets knocked with a 21-g impact to the head, for instance, the mouth guard will light up red after the play, also sending the data to a smartphone app via Bluetooth.
The product is a potential game-changer in sports where concussions have become a serious problem, like football, ice hockey, and soccer. And with major films being made about the sports injury, the issue continues to be discussed, though Force Impact cautions it's just a first step in helping identify concussions.
"What we're not doing is diagnosing concussions," said Bob Merriman, cofounder and COO. "Rather we're simply trying to call attention to hard impacts that youth officials and coaches may have missed."
On Wednesday, founders Anthony Gonzales and Bob Merriman demonstrated and pitched the FitGuard in Los Angeles, the culmination of a four-month hardware accelerator program backed by Make in LA.
Here's how it works.
When players receive their FitGuard, they pair it up with the smartphone app and input their age, gender, and weight. The actual mouthguard itself looks and feels like a normal one — it can even be dropped into boiling water — except this one has an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and LED light on the front for notifications.
It's what the company calls the "check engine light for the brain."
If an athlete takes a blow, it lights up on the front with different colors to signify the hit level. Green means it was a low impact, blue is moderate, and red is a high impact. In the case of a red impact, coaches might want to take that player out for a concussion screening (the app also includes a CDC questionnaire for non-medical professionals).
Beyond evaluating a single impact, the FitGuard's data can be tracked by parents and coaches over the long-term.
"Parents can download impacts and have a log over the course of a game, a week, or even a full season," Merriman said. "So they can make informed decisions about the health of their children as they play the game they love."
The company is aiming entirely for athletes ages 12-25. That's due to a significant rate of injury among high school athletes and mostly-positive feedback received from high school coaches. Gonzales told TI that professional organizations like the NFL haven't expressed much interest.
Force Impact Technologies is backed by investments from Burch Creative Capital and Make in LA, and it's looking for another $1 million to ramp up production. It plans to sell direct to consumers for $129.99 (available for pre order) or at a discount to teams and universities, sometime around Fall 2016.
