BAE Systems introduced its first HEADS sensor to the military in 2008. Since then, nearly 7,000 of the company’s HEADS units have been fielded to the US Army and Marine Corps.

“Diagnosing mild to moderate combat-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be challenging. For example, following an explosion from a roadside bomb, soldiers will sometimes continue their mission, unaware that the concussion from the blast may have lingering effects,” says Joe Coltman, VP of BAE Systems’ Personnel Protection Systems business.

“With the Generation II HEADS sensor, even if the injury isn’t obvious, the sensor is equipped with a programmable colour LED light set to activate during a blast event, providing immediate notification of a possible combat-related TBI which should be checked out by medical personnel.”

With the new order, thousands of the company’s Generation II HEADS helmet sensors will be produced and fitted inside the combat helmets for U.S. troops serving abroad.

“With our Generation II HEADS sensor, we’re providing medical teams with a valuable diagnostic tool that utilises radio frequency technology,” added Coltman.

“With our new ‘smarter’ sensor, if a soldier is exposed to a blast, possibly sustaining a concussion, not only will the HEADS visual LED display be triggered at the time of the event, but once the soldier enters a specified area, such as forward operating base or dining facility, a series of strategically placed antennae will scan all available HEADS units and send data to a computer, identifying any soldiers who may have sustained a blast-related brain injury.”

The sensor itself is small, lightweight and can be secured inside virtually any combat helmet.

Although imperceptible to the wearer, it is designed to continuously collect critical, potentially lifesaving data, including impact direction, magnitude, duration, blast pressures, angular and linear accelerations as well as the exact times of single or multiple blast events.

That information is then securely stored until it can be quickly downloaded and analysed by medical teams using a simple USB or wireless connection.

Compatible with most helmets, the HEADS sensor is unobtrusive and won’t interfere with additional helmet-mounted equipment soldiers may need, such as goggles and other sensors.