Commotio Cordis Test Platform Up and Running!

ICS Laboratories’ test setup for the evaluation of athletic padding designed to protect against Commotio Cordis is now fully operational.

ICS is pleased to announce the completion of a recent expansion of testing capabilities in its Head Protection and Athletic Equipment Sector. Commotio cordis is a catastrophic phenomenon wherein a sudden blunt impact to the chest de-synchronizes the rhythm of the heart. This triggers ventricular fibrillation and unfortunately often results in sudden death. The condition occurs most frequently in adolescent baseball players (mean age of 15) but is increasing in the fast-growing sport of lacrosse. Resuscitation is only successful if an injured athlete can be treated with an automatic external defibrillator within a narrow 12-minute window after impact.

In response to the development of body pads and other devices to protect against this uncommon yet severe injury, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) has developed a test method to evaluate protectors designed to address commotio cordis. The test method (NOCSAE DOC ND 200) encompasses chest protectors designed and sold for use in baseball and lacrosse. ND 200was voted to “final” status at the most recent NOCSAE meeting and will officially become active in January 2018. The evaluation involves the measurement of forces that a protector permit to translate to a synthetic torso modeled after an adolescent body size when impacted by a baseball or lacrosse ball shot at varying speeds. The specialized test equipment developed to facilitate this testing features multiple force-measuring load cells embedded in the replica torso, one of which sits directly beneath the “cardiac silhouette”- the area of the torso where impacts have been shown to induce commotio cordis.

Clients interested in testing their chest protectors and other body padding on the NOCSAE chest surrogate are encouraged to contact Ms. Shelley Brady sbrady@icslabs.com or Mr. David Petit dpetit@icslabs.com.