A new frontier or mad science? A doctor consulted by Mail Sport prefers to call it a possible step closer to discovering the ‘holy grail’ of preventing serious injuries.
The subject of the discussion is a piece of technology so compelling in concept that it has attracted attention from the Chinese Olympic circles to the Premier League and the elite of American college sports.
It may also raise some skepticism.
The device, developed by 20-year-old London-based inventors Kylin Shaw and Bhavy Metakar, founders of the company Hippos Exoskeleton, is a knee brace that uses artificial intelligence to detect when the joint is about to break and deploys an airbag in less time than it takes for a ligament to rupture.
Given the ongoing threat of torn cruciate ligaments, such as those Manchester City’s Rodri reportedly suffered on Sunday, Shaw and Metakar say their design can prevent 80 percent of such injuries.
A revolutionary ‘airbag’ has been designed to prevent serious knee injuries like Rodri’s
The brace device uses artificial intelligence to detect when a joint is approaching the breaking point
Last season, 10 Premier League players tore their knee ligaments, a phenomenon that is more common in women’s football.
It’s a bold claim that will raise eyebrows, but it’s one that has sparked curiosity within the sports industry as the idea moves through testing.
Crystal Palace were sufficiently interested to trial a prototype within their academy over the summer and Shaw says he has already received a large pre-order from the Chinese Olympic Association.
UK Athletics medical director Dr James Brown, who discussed the research with Shaw, described the prospect to Mail Sport as a potential “game-changer”.
“We believe this could revolutionise the way knee injuries are prevented,” Shaw told Mail Sport, adding the aim is to introduce the device into elite sport within two years.
The design is based on two sensors placed at the top and bottom of a 107 gram brace. Both sensors record the movement patterns of the upper and lower leg.
“They form a sensor network,” Shaw explains. “A flexible PCB (printed circuit board, on the kneecap) uses AI to learn thousands of movements of your knee and recognizes anything that is outside your normal pattern, such as after a jump.
The investors claim the design can stop 80 percent of cruciate ligament tears in the knee
Lisandro Martinez was one of ten Premier League players to suffer a torn knee ligament last year
‘This can confirm whether the hyperextension or rotation is severe enough to cause an injury and signal a danger signal.’
Should that happen, the airbag is designed to inflate within 25 milliseconds via a micro gas cartridge that surrounds and stabilizes the knee, preventing hyperextension or over-rotation.
In theory, a season-long injury could have been avoided.
Shaw added: ‘Research shows that it typically takes 60 milliseconds for an ACL to tear and the airbag tightens after 20 to 25 milliseconds, protecting the knee. It then deflates almost immediately so your knee isn’t frozen and you can keep playing. Our technology is reusable because the canister is replaced like you would replace a battery.’
The risks of an accidental discharge are tempting to imagine. Shaw counters this by claiming that there have been only six failures in more than 4,000 tests, including trials with professional athletes, including American world champion skier Alex Schlopy.
Whether it would be considered compliant in some sports is questionable. Under Article 4 of the International Football Association Board’s laws, the details are vague: ‘Non-dangerous protective equipment, for example gloves, headgear, face masks, knee and arm protectors made of soft, lightweight, padded material, is permitted.’
Shaw and Metakar have received letters of intent from Spain’s La Liga basketball club, the U.S. NCAA college system, and also from China. They have a patent application pending in the United States.
The Chinese Olympic Association has already placed a large pre-order for the product
There is clearly a broader interest, and this also applies to Dr James Brown, who has been active in top-level sport for thirty years, including rugby, Yorkshire Cricket, British Triathlon and now UK Athletics.
“If the product can meet the premise, it would be a major step forward in protecting athletes,” he says.
‘We currently live in a time where a lot of energy and resources are being put into predicting when an athlete is at risk, but prevention is the holy grail and the most difficult aspect to achieve.
“From what I’ve seen in the early stages, this could be a game-changer if the reliability and compliance can be proven through the testing they’re currently doing. It’s exciting.”