Ben Harvatine, a wrestler and a junior MIT, had no idea that he had just suffered a concussion during one fateful practice. Unfortunately, neither did the MIT training staff. Ben continued to practice and compete, trying to push through what he thought was general fatigue or dehydration. When his dizziness persisted, he sought further treatment and was diagnosed with a concussion. This late diagnosis put his wrestling career on hold for a time and precipitated multiple hospitalizations. If Ben could have been diagnosed earlier, his injuries would likely have been much less severe.
While recuperating, Ben began to brainstorm ideas for how this type of situation could be prevented in the future. He and a friend, Seth Berg, eventually designed Jolt, a sensor that could be clipped on to virtually any type of sports headgear (helmet, hat, headband, etc.). Jolt would monitor head trauma during any physical activity and vibrate to alert the wearer of significant injuries. It would also send data and alerts via Bluetooth to an app on a smartphone, tablet, or other device. Jolt has a range of over 200 yards and a battery life of up to two months. Additionally, the app can monitor an unlimited number of sensors at once; and, another huge feature is that a Jolt sensor only costs $99.
This would allow sports players, coaches, or parents to monitor the head impacts sustained by the players. With the information Jolt provides, coaches, parents, trainers, etc. can know when their players suffer serious hits and decide whether the players should keep playing or stop. Jolt would act as an important prevention system to catch concussions before they worsen from further trauma.
In true entrepreneurial fashion, Ben Harvatine and Seth Berg found a need from personal experience and then brainstormed to solve that need. Now, their inventiveness is aiding players and coaches in the fight against concussions. Jolt is keeping players playing and protecting them in the process.
Jolt website — http://www.joltsensor.com/
This is huge. Great post, I was really informed about a really cool new product. Concussions are so difficult to diagnose, especially with most athletes opting to want to get back on the field. With a device this small that can monitor injuries, this really may open up a whole new world of possibilities to better care for injured athletes.
This is a great post that really informs people of this product. This Jolt technology will be so helpful for all athletes especially football players. This device could predict concussions and help prevent further brain damage. This device should be used for all levels of sports because even young athletes are at risk for concussions. Jolt will help prevent further injury and therefore is a great product.
This is in incredible innovation. This idea need to become more widespread and better known. I have had 2 concussions before and the first one I had lasted 3 months because it did not get diagnosed soon enough. This technology would be very helpful in many sports and activities. This post does a great job explaining the idea and how it is innovative and useful for many different types of activities.
This is incredible! Concussions are one of the leading injuries for athletes and can be one of the most debilitating. I would be curious to know if Jolt has the ability to adapt for different severity levels. Someone who has had a concussion before is at a higher risk to get a second or third, and those following concussions are often more dangerous. Is this technology capable of being programmed to recognize that for someone who has had a concussion before, the amount of impact to cause a concussion is much less?
Yes, the sensor can be configured to fit personalized specifications for various athletes. The Jolt website says that you can create player profiles in the app, but it is not immensely specific on exactly what parameters you could set. I think, though, that these profiles would allow for the type of programming that you mentioned. Thanks for your input and discussion!
More and more research has come out in the last decade about the severe issues resulting from head trauma experienced at a younger age in later life. Much of this stems from the issue of people aggravating injuries because they refuse to sit out or, unfortunately, because they are unaware of their condition. This technology would be extremely helpful in this field and relatively affordable. I can see this product having a good market in selling to school and sports teams as wholes.
Wow, this is an amazing invention! I’ve never heard of this product before but I think this product will revolutionize concussion prevention. Also, I think that the NFL should capitalize on this product since they have been getting a lot of criticism for the way they have handled player’s concussions and concussion prevention.
This is a great innovation. The head (skull) encases and protects a crucial organ, and with this innovation, it will be viable in preventing concussions that could potentially lead to lasting brain damage. This is simple, but useful; tiny, but powerful. I like that the entrepreneurs came up with this idea from personal experience.
Great blog post! This product could revolutionize the way that the concussions are detected. This device could allow the doctors and trainers to quickly find out how bad the concussion is based on the impact. I really feel that there is a great market for this product, especially in the NFL. This is a great invention and it has the potential to help a lot of people.
I love this idea, and I think that this device is desperately needed in the NFL since the popularity of football has definitely taken a hit from concussions. Although this post focuses on saving people from concussions, this device is even bigger than that since concussions are linked to aggressive behavior. Because of this, the NFL and other high contact sports often have many players who physically assault people. This has greatly affected how people feel about the sport, so a little device like this could actually play a good role in saving the industry.
Great blog post, well written, and the pictures were appreciated!
While I do not watch football or pay attention to it regularly reading this has definitely opened my eyes to the dangers of such a tough sport. We only have one brain, therefore, preventing injury of what many consider to the the most important part of our body is crucial. The last sentence where is states that Ben Harvatine and Seth Berg found a solution to a personal problem is fantastic. I believe many of the best ideas in history were founded based off of a will and a drive to better ones environment and situation. Great article, thanks!
This product is an incredibly huge and useful achievement! There are so many athletes in the world today that are at risk for concussions, especially those who play sports like rugby or football. This technology would help prevent so many concussions from becoming worse injuries that could create bigger problems for athletes and their careers. I also like how this technology is only $99. This may seem like a lot, but compared to the bills that the hospitals will give you when you suffer from further injuries this is nothing. This is a revolutionary solution to a huge problem that has affected so many lives. Great post!
Having had concussions in the past, I know this product really does fill a huge need. The current tests for concussion are not that helpful and differ between each trainer. I have been told I was fine and could continue playing when I had a concussion and have been prohibited to play in important games even though I was fine, This is not only bad for a athletes health, but extremely frustrating. I believe this device will be standard sports gear in a couple years especially because of its small size and the fact it does not get in the way of athletes playing the game.
This product is a perfect example of innovation meeting demands. For the longest time it has been difficult to provide safety precautions to rising athletes. This product allows players, coaches and parents to know well before the negative effects of a concussion sets in. It will do well as a preventative measure to further injury so that others wont have to suffer through what Ben did. Ben found a need that he was passionate about and a way to bring it to market.
This is a huge (and long overdue) leap for sports safety! I can see this being a must have for concerned parents and coaches, as it provides the peace of mind needed when engaging in children’s sports. As a biology major, I especially appreciate innovation in the medical field as products like this one are far reaching and have the potential to completely change someone’s life for the better.
I’ve had an experience with concussions similar to Ben’s, so this product is something that relates to me on more than a technological level. This product shows how much innovation can come from pain- in a very literal sense. I can see there being a huge market for this in schools, specifically high schools and colleges, and youth sports’ leagues. I certainly hope it is a requirement in the near future. Preventing concussions is absolutely worth the additional cost.
I’m curious to see how the athletes react to the idea of using this product in terms of if they feel the product will hinder their comfort while competing. If this happens, also interested to see if coaches force their players to implement this product.
Its crazy that someone never thought about this product before. At least he was able to capitalize on a personal problem and a problem the entire sports world faces. Hopefully this device could find its way into the professional level of sports one day.
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Whoa. This is an incredible innovation, and invention, for the sports world. With so many different sports becoming more aware of the problems of concussions, this seems like an incredible way to maybe help. I think that personal connection also will help sell the product, as he himself has had issues with concussions. I would like to get one of these and see just how it works, and how you would analyze the data.
This idea goes to show how innovation can spurt from anything, even a concussion. Thinking about how to better diagnose his injury in the future he may have come up with an amazing way for those in contact sports to monitor head trauma. This idea will put many parents minds at ease so that they themselves can see the effects playing contact sports does to the head. Great idea!