Sacred Heart University Deploys Hit Count® Certified GForceTracker Technology in Landmark Concussion Study

NEW YORK, April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- GForceTracker Inc. (GFT) announced today its collaboration with Sacred Heart University (SHU) in one of the first and largest concussion studies for men's lacrosse in the U.S.  The longitudinal study will be monitoring head impacts and examining different variables such as changes in neurocognitive function, modified IQ scores, depression/anxiety, alcohol/drug dependency and concussion injuries.



"We are one of the first in the country to embark on an accelerometer concussion study of this magnitude in men's lacrosse," said Professor Theresa Miyashita, Director of the Athletic Training Program at SHU.  "The GFT is critical technology for our study and has allowed us to monitor the athletes in a cost effective way - all in real time," added Miyashita.



GFT Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Gerry Iuliano stated "We are excited to be bringing our concussion and head impact sensor experience from other sports such as football and hockey to the SHU lacrosse study."  Iuliano went on to say "Our ability to expand into lacrosse shows the true flexibility of the game changing technology built into our real time monitoring system."  The company also has GFT's that can be attached to the protective goggles worn in women's lacrosse.



The SHU study commenced in January of this year and is focused on freshmen players.  It will continue to monitor these same athletes throughout their four-year lacrosse career.  The goal is to gain a better understanding of concussions in the sport and ultimately generate insights for safer play.

The Hit Count® initiative was established by the Boston based, non-profit Sport Legacy Institute and launched during Super Bowl week.  It seeks to measure and count sports-related head impacts that exceed a certain threshold determined by a committee of leading scientists with the goal of minimizing brain injury.

About GForceTracker 



GForceTracker is a Hit Count® Certified, advanced linear g-force and rotational impact sensor monitoring system that accumulates a lifetime of head impacts.  The detection device monitors, measures and provides vital statistics such as number of impacts, severity of impacts, local alarming when the impact exceeds an acceptable threshold and accumulates this data to provide key metrics that determine whether its user has suffered a possible head injury.  The GFT is currently the only Hit Count® Certified head impact sensor on the market and can be used by individual players or entire teams in both helmeted and non-helmeted sports.  To learn more about GForceTracker visit www.gforcetracker.com





About Sacred Heart University

Sacred Heart University, the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, offers more than 50 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut.  More than 6,400 students attend the University.  The SHU Pioneers' men's lacrosse team competes in the Northeast Conference of the NCAA Division 1.  To learn more about SHU visit http://sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-lacros/index

Contact: 
Gerry Iuliano, Paul Walker
(905) 470-0109
[email protected]

Photo(s):
http://www.prlog.org/12306927

SOURCE Sacred Heart University