The Organization of Students for Innovations

Ga Tech InVenture 2021 First Place Winner in the High School Division

Health and Medical Technology Award Winner

The Organization of Students for Innovations (OSI), a club at Alan C. Pope High School in Marietta, Ga., was recently recognized as the Ga Tech InVenture 2021 First Place Winner in the High School Division and the Health and Medical Technology Award Winner for their “High School Concussion Detector” submission. 

In addition, the OSI Team was just notified that it had been selected to compete at the Invention Convention Worldwide (Nationals) competition that will be held virtually in May 2021. The OSI Team is composed of Pope High School students Armon Mighani, Patrick Astorga, Tate Smith and the club is sponsored by Pope Engineering Teacher Col Stephen Williams.

The submission was based on the fact that there has been a rise in awareness of the effects of concussions in high school sports such as football. However, not much has been discussed regarding unnoticed and untreated concussions. More than 50% of concussions are unnoticed at first either because the sideline staff doesn't notice it or the player is hesitant to report any symptoms they have. Symptoms for a concussion are hard to read and if a player continues playing with a concussion, they can get further permanent and severe injuries to the brain. Furthermore, if the concussion goes untreated, their concussion can result in more permanent issues such as post-prolonged concussion syndrome (PPCS). 

The OSI Team thus determined to create an affordable way to detect concussions as they occur by creating a quarter-sized microchip that can be placed in the back of a player's helmet. The chip they have developed consists of an accelerometer paired with a WiFi module programmed in C++ which can send data about the impacts a player is receiving in real-time to the sidelines. If a player receives a concussion level impact, the chip sends the coaching staff a warning. The Officials can then stop the game and the athletic trainer can assess the situation to see if the player is safe to continue playing. OSI says they believe the chip’s cost will be around $10 making it affordable for all players. The OSI end goal is for all high school athletes to have a chip in their helmet thereby reducing injuries resulting from undetected concussions to near zero.