Assessment of Head Impacts and Muscle Activity in Soccer Using a T3 Inertial Sensor and a Portable Electromyography (EMG) System: A Preliminary Study

Worsey, Matthew T. O.; Jones, Bethany S.; Cervantes, Andres; Chauvet, Sabrina P.; Thiel, David V.; Espinosa, Hugo G.

doi:10.3390/electronics9050834

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Assessment of Head Impacts and Muscle Activity in Soccer Using a T3 Inertial Sensor and a Portable Electromyography (EMG) System: A Preliminary Study

by

Matthew T. O. Worsey

¹

,

Bethany S. Jones

^1,2,

Andres Cervantes

^1,3

,

Sabrina P. Chauvet

^1,4,

David V. Thiel

¹

and

Hugo G. Espinosa

^1,*

¹

Griffith University Sports Technology (GUST), School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith University, Brisbane QLD 4111, Australia

²

Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

³

Center of Applied Physics and Advanced Technology (CFATA), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Queretaro Cp 3001, Mexico

⁴

Arquus, 68 Route du point du jour, 44600 Saint-Nazaire, France

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Electronics 2020, 9(5), 834; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9050834

Submission received: 16 April 2020 / Revised: 4 May 2020 / Accepted: 17 May 2020 / Published: 19 May 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wearable Electronics for Assessing Human Motor (dis)Abilities)

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Abstract

Heading the ball is an important skill in soccer. Head impacts are of concern because of the potential adverse health effects. Many elite players now wear GPS (that include inertial monitoring units) on the upper spine for location tracking and workload measurement. By measuring the maximum acceleration of the head and the upper spine, we calculated the acceleration ratio as an attenuation index for participants (n = 8) of different skill levels during a front heading activity. This would allow for in-field estimates of head impacts to be made and concussive events detected. For novice participants, the ratio was as high as 8.3 (mean value 5.0 ± 1.8), whereas, for experienced players, the mean ratio was 3.2 ± 1.5. Elite players stiffen the neck muscles to increase the ball velocity and so the torso acts as a support structure. Electromyography (EMG) signals that were recorded from the neck and shoulder before and after a training intervention showed a major increase in mean average muscle activity (146%, p = 3.39 × 10⁻⁶). This was accompanied by a major decrease in acceleration ratio (34.41%, p = 0.008). The average head-ball impact velocity was 1.95 ± 0.53 m/s determined while using optical motion capture. For this low velocity, the impact force was 102 ± 19 N, 13% of the published concussive force. The voluntary action of neck muscles decreases isolated head movements during heading. Coaches and trainers may use this evidence in their development of junior players.

Keywords: soccer; football; inertial sensors; accelerometers; electromyography; head impact

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MDPI and ACS Style

Worsey, M.T.O.; Jones, B.S.; Cervantes, A.; Chauvet, S.P.; Thiel, D.V.; Espinosa, H.G. Assessment of Head Impacts and Muscle Activity in Soccer Using a T3 Inertial Sensor and a Portable Electromyography (EMG) System: A Preliminary Study. Electronics 2020, 9, 834. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9050834

AMA Style

Worsey MTO, Jones BS, Cervantes A, Chauvet SP, Thiel DV, Espinosa HG. Assessment of Head Impacts and Muscle Activity in Soccer Using a T3 Inertial Sensor and a Portable Electromyography (EMG) System: A Preliminary Study. Electronics. 2020; 9(5):834. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9050834

Chicago/Turabian Style

Worsey, Matthew T. O., Bethany S. Jones, Andres Cervantes, Sabrina P. Chauvet, David V. Thiel, and Hugo G. Espinosa. 2020. "Assessment of Head Impacts and Muscle Activity in Soccer Using a T3 Inertial Sensor and a Portable Electromyography (EMG) System: A Preliminary Study" Electronics 9, no. 5: 834. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9050834

APA Style

Worsey, M. T. O., Jones, B. S., Cervantes, A., Chauvet, S. P., Thiel, D. V., & Espinosa, H. G. (2020). Assessment of Head Impacts and Muscle Activity in Soccer Using a T3 Inertial Sensor and a Portable Electromyography (EMG) System: A Preliminary Study. Electronics, 9(5), 834. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9050834

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Assessment of Head Impacts and Muscle Activity in Soccer Using a T3 Inertial Sensor and a Portable Electromyography (EMG) System: A Preliminary Study

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