Global rugby authorities will introduce the “subsequent development” of electronic mouthguard technology at the Women’s global event this year. An illuminating LED indicator will alert of possible head trauma situations.
The updated technology, evaluated in this year’s Major League Rugby, is scheduled for implementation at the upcoming global event, which begins later this month. Subsequently, it will be integrated into the top-tier men’s competition for the new season, with the Rugby Championship implementing it by 2026.
This represents the latest version of the electronic mouthguard since its initial integration into the Head Injury Assessment protocol in January 2024. The technology has received “complete endorsement” for use at the global event, according to World Rugby Chief Medical Officer Prof Éanna Falvey.
The updated technology will detect high-impact moments in “fractions of a second,” according to World Rugby Science and Medical Manager Dr Lindsay Starling. When impact occurs, the transparent mouthguards will flash red, signaling the referee to halt the game promptly to allow for the player’s removal.
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“We are really enthusiastic regarding this,” Starling stated. “It represents a significant return, especially considering its beginnings in the women’s division. The advantage provided by mouthguards has expanded greatly over the past year. Now, we are able to present the advanced mouthguard that places significant emphasis on player safety and creating heightened awareness concerning a critical element of the game. Deploying it at a venue like the Women’s global event is especially stimulating, and denotes the unveiling of the subsequent phase.
“The progress from January 2024 to now signifies significant transformation. Certainly, using these mouthguards involves a substantial learning period, especially given that earlier methods of identifying head injuries depended on observable signs. The mouthguards are designed to identify concerns not immediately noticeable. There can be occasional misunderstanding, with difficulty trusting the data delivered by the mouthguard. Certainly, the research that backed this project meant we were confident in these mouthguards before we launched them.”
Using the existing mouthguards, there can be a slight delay in the Bluetooth connection, making it hard to instantly determine the impact that triggered the alert to the physicians. Starling explained this delay is like the small delay that can sometimes occur “when connecting your phone to your Bluetooth speaker in your house.” Thus, game officials need to wait for play to stop, letting medical personnel find the impact and remove the appropriate player.
The LED lights have now made the process more “streamlined,” which hastens the process and lessens game interruption time.
“The evaluations from using the LED lights were generally straight forward. When a player is hit, the mouthguard illuminates,” Starling stated.
“The potentially intriguing part currently, is when an alert is sent to the sideline team via Bluetooth, which is usually a quick event. However, the officials then wait for an opportune moment to stop play, at which point the player is taken off the field. Especially when the player appears fine, inquiries can occur concerning which particular occurrence led to the impact. The new setup removes all delays in the light being illuminated.
“This has improved procedures and given players improved knowledge concerning the incident that took them out of the play. It also created more awareness on the field.
“This mirrors the practice of a game official spotting an injured player on the field and then halting the game.”
Because of the speed at which the mouthguard now illuminates, game officials can identify likely cases of inappropriate behavior in a more rapid manner, compared to formerly getting the information in a delayed manner.
Starling warns against developing an over-dependence on the data, despite the possibility of safeguarding players and spotting infractions by officials.
“The challenge is that minor impacts can also be significant, but an instance of foul play might not create substantial impact,” she stated. “Caution must be exercised against placing too much importance on the data and potentially over-relying on it.
“Data is valuable, but in this scenario, it does not tell the entire narrative. The potential exists for data from mouthguards to play a more substantial role in identifying foul play. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that a player may suffer a concussion with observable distress due to only a minor head impact. Incidents of foul play can occur without a sufficiently strong hit to register on the equipment.”
